Against All Odds
by intiMACYx33
Summary: Sophia is slowly dying from a heart diesease that she has had to deal with her entire life. Brady is one hot and young werewolf, ready to live his life and have fun. What will happen when they meet? Hiding half your life is easier said than done.
1. Why me?

Written with the help of TwilightDreamer.22

Brady imprint story, enjoy(:

Sophia's POV

**"Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should dance"- Unknown**

Congestive Heart Faliure.

I bet those words aren't used in your daily vocabulary. They probably aren't in your vocabulary at all. You're lucky because not only are those three words a part of my everyday vocabulary, the basically define my entire life. The biggest problem for most sixteen year old girls is finding a date to prom, but mine, is hoping I get a seventeenth birthday. I try to be optimistic because if I'm going to have a short life, I might as well try to enjoy it. It's hard to try to pretend to be normal when you spend more time in hospital beds than your own.

"Sophia, what about this?" my cousin Callie, my only friend in Forks, asked while holding up a bright pink onesie. We made the trip to Port Angles with the intentions to only look at baby merchandise for Callie's sister but after two hours and three pair of shoes later, we are just getting to the baby department of the store.

"It's kind of plain," I commented while picking up an obnoxiously large pink teddy bear. 35.50!? I don't even think Paris Hilton herself got thirty five dollar stuffed animals.

We went through racks of little pink lacy dresses and dozen of onesie. We picked out two purple and pink dresses and cute matching baby shoes. Callie thought the thirty five dollar teddy bear was necessary although I somehow convinced her that the stuffed animal would look better on the store shelf. Looking at baby stuff is always bittersweet for me considering becoming a mom is one of the many things I've came to the painfully conclusion will never happen for me. I'm living a short restricted life and many of things I want to do, I won't get the chance too. I need time to do most of things I want to and time is definitely something I do not have.

We started to walk back down the mall, Callie wanted to stop at almost every store but I managed to keep her walking. We came up to the food court and waited in line for Burger King. As I looked around at all the people, laughing and having a good time. One couple stood out to me, she had strawberry blond hair and was fashionably dressed. The boy she was with had short brown hair and as far as I could tell brown eyes, they were sitting by the water fountain eating their food. The way he looked at her had even me falling for him. The look in his eyes, he looked so happy and in love. I have never in my life seen anyone look at someone like that. It was pure love. I could only wish someone would ever look at me that way. I knew no one could ever do that, no matter how normal I tried to act.

_"You can't expect to lead a normal life, no teenage boy in their right mind is ready for the responsibility you and your condition bring," my mother words play like a broken record in my head every time I think about this issue. _

Her point has proven more than once but I'm still waiting for someone to prove her wrong. It's not like I've never been in any relationships before. I dated boys throughout my freshman and sophomore when my health was more stable, but infrequent hospital stays and doctor's appointment make keeping a relationship close to impossible. I still have the slightest bit of hope that I'll find someone to make my life a little more interesting and a little less boring. I'm not sure why I have hope in this area. I think after reading hundreds of books during my hospital stays and watching countless romance movies, I have it set in my mind that I'll get a happy ending. My optimism is going to kill me one day, literally.

Another boy walked up to the couple and I felt like my eyes were glued to him. He was gorgeous, more gorgeous than any other boy I've ever seen. He was easily above six feet tall and his skin was a dark russet colored that contrasted perfectly with the white of his wife beater. He had to be freezing though, it's November and Port Angeles is definitely not Cancun when it comes to weather. He is one of those guys that you can't help to stare at even though you know they're totally out of your league.

"They're part of the La Push gang, you should stop staring" Callie said with obvious disgust lingering in her voice as she handed the cashier one of her hundreds of credit cards. If there is one thing our family has, it's money. A lot of people believe that money can buy you happiness, but it can't. I'd trade in all my designer clothes and purses for a family that actually genuinely cared any day.

"La Push gang?" I questioned. I hadn't hear about any gangs and I was pretty sure I remember hearing La Push is a Indian Reservation. I didn't think boys on reservation formed gangs.

"They're the rez boys. There is like 8 of them, that's Brady and Collin, the girl is Collin's girlfriend, Carmela. They're all like freakishly huge drug dealers or something. It's so weird, they like put claims on certain girls too," Callie explained with wide eyes. Callie could gossip like no other person I know. She think she knows everything too so once she hears a rumor from a "reliable source" it becomes fact in her mind. I've never had the desire to gossip like she does. I've been the topics of many rumors in my lifetime. My hospital stays have miraculously turned into drug and eating disorder rehab through the mouths of others.

"What do you mean that they put claims on girls?" I asked confused.

"They won't let them go once they find the girl they want. One of the older guys, Embry, has a girlfriend and she moved here with her adoptive family and when they moved back, he wouldn't let her leave with them," she paused and contunied, "I think they pimp them out or something," she added seriously.

I looked over again and our eyes connected for a second. I thought I was going to die of embarrassment for getting caught staring but embarrassment was covered up by an emotion I have never felt before. It felt like something was pulling me towards him and I didn't feel right standing all the way over here when he was over there. I looked away and back at Callie.

"I think you're the next chosen one, he's walking over here," Callie whispered with a laugh and grabbed her food from the pimple ridden cashier.

"Hi," his deep voice rang in my ears. Was he actually talking to me? God, he looked even better close up. His eyes were a dark chocolate brown and his hair was jet black that fell a little before his eyes. His body was impressive and I silently wondered what it would be like to held in those arms. I assumed it will feel a lot better than being held by my gangly ex boyfriend, Ben.

"Hi," I stuttered out pathetically. Nice Sophia, just make yourself look like you've never been in front of a guy before!

"Why haven't I ever met you?" he asked with a dreamy expression plastered over his face. I still couldn't understand why he was looking at me like that. Why wasn't he trying to talk to Callie? She was a lot prettier than me with her exotic green eyes and super long and skinny legs. Callie explained to me one day that there are different versions of "pretty". Callie describes herself as the "sexy pretty", the kind used for lingerie models. Then there is the type of pretty where you really have to look closely at someone to see that they're good looking. She puts me in the category of the "pretty in the bring home to your mom type way". It's not a bad thing, but with that hickey that's the size of a quarter on his neck, he shouldn't be looking for the type like me.

"I live in Forks, I just moved from Seattle though," I replied and looked around desperately for something to look at instead of his eyes. They held way too much affection and I couldn't concentrate on making sentence if I had to look into them.

He nodded, "That's cool, I'm Brady," he said with a smile that made me feel like my heart was melting. Focus Sophia!

"I'm Sophia," I said and tried to return the smile although I'm sure it was nothing compared to his.

"You're..you're beautiful," he said and Callie scoffed loudly behind me. His voice sounded so sincere that I almost fell for it. I may not have much experience with love, but I'm not naive.

"As beautiful as the girl that did that to your neck?" I asked with a smirk and Callie tried and failed to not laugh.

His face dropped in shock, "No, a lot better," he replied simply and ran his hand through his black hair nervously.

I laughed which caused him to smile, "Well thanks, I think."

"Why'd you move to Forks? I don't think anyone has moved there in years," he asked while succesfully changing the topic.

"We came to be closer to my family," I lied and I don't know why. It felt better than saying truth, that's all I knew.

He nodded in response and I sighed internal relief that he believed it. He would never assume what the truth was but getting caught in a lie was always an embarrassing thing.

"Let's go Sophia, I have work at six," Callie's voice called from behind me and I had honestly forgot I was with her for a few minutes. I swear I could hear jealously in her voice which I didn't understand, didn't she just describe them as freakishly huge drug dealers two minutes ago?

"I gotta go, I'll see you around." I said and that obviously was not good enough for him.

"Wait Sophia! Can I have your number? We can hang out sometimes," he said the last part nervously and more like a question then a statement. It made me smile slightly to realize I could actually have that effect on someone that looked as good as Brady did.

The rational part of me was telling me not to. It screamed things like he wouldn't be interested in me if he knew what was wrong with me, I'm not the type of girl he wants, and I could never keep up with the beautiful girls that must catch his eye everyday. My gut told me to do it though. My life was just too boring and I needed something new and interesting, even if it would possibly hurt me in the end.

"Sure, lemme see your phone," I said and he handed me an old flip phone that looked like it had been through World War III. Our hands brushed for a second and his hands felt like he had just taken them out of an oven.

"Wow you're really hot!" I exclaimed without thinking and blushed immediately after. "I meant your hand..like you're warm," I stuttered wishing the ground would just swallow me now.

"Are you sure that's what you meant?" he teased and my cheeks turned a brighter shade of pink as I saved my number into his phone

"Oh yeah, I'm postive." I said with a smile, "Bye Brady."

"Bye Sophia," he said. There was so much adoration in the way he said my name is made me have the impulse to turn around and kiss him.

While we were walking to the car I realized that I actually might like living here if everyone looked like how Brady did. I could be normal too because they didn't know me too be anything different. It was perfect.

**A/N: Thank you for reading! Review please(:**


	2. Hope

A/N: Brady's POV is written mostly by TwilightDreamer.22 who helps me with all my ideas. Read/Review!

**Brady's POV**

I looked down at my cell phone again, should I phone her now?

No, I should wait a bit longer.

Sophia, her name made me want to fly. I couldn't stand being away from her. I never really understood the whole imprint thing and how my brothers were drawn to them and unable to stay away. I understand now that I have my Sophia. It's like nothing I have never felt before, I thought I had loved girls before but what I felt then was nothing compared to this.

"Just call her already!" Collin yelled from the kitchen, we came back to my house after being at the mall and of course he was eating all my food. He came into the living room with a huge bag of chips and I slowly pulled my eyes of my cell phone.

"Shut up, Collin you didn't talk to Carmela for weeks after you seen her." He rolled his eyes at me and sat next to Carmela on the love seat.

"You knew me and didn't even say anything? " Carmela asked sticking out her bottom lip, being unsuccessful at the whole sad look she was going for. As Collin started explaining to her, I tuned him out, thinking on whether or not I should call her. Would she think it would be too soon?

"Brady, I think she would love to hear from you. Did you see the way she was looking at you in the mall? That girl is the second luckiest person in the world, next to me of course." Carmela said before kissing Collin on the cheek. I hated seeing them like this, it made me miss Sophia even more. I stood up and walked into my bedroom flipping my phone open on the way.

I pushed talk and hit one, pathetically, I already had her on my speed dial. She picked it up on the third ring and her voice almost made me drop the phone in excitement.

"Hello?" She answered in a clear ringing voice that made my heart skip a beat.

"Hey! It's Brady." I said way to exited, come on Brady turn on the charm.

"Oh, How are you?" She cared how I felt and if there wasn't other people in the house that could hear me, I swear I would have been jumping for joy right now.

"Well..." I said, trying my hardest to make it sound like I was upset about something.

"What's wrong?" Sophia asked with concern, it was working.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"You can tell me," She said so politely I almost felt bad for lying to her, but I really wanted to see her again.

"Okay, well my friends are having this bonfire tonight and they invited me. The thing is I don't have a date and they all have girlfriends. If I don't show up with someone they will be teasing me all night, again." I made my voice go low at the last part, I was all to good at lying.

"Well, did you ask anyone?"

"No, the only girl I would ask is someone I just met and I don't think they would want to go with me."

"Well you will only know if you ask her." She said as if she had no clue it was her I was referring to.

"I guess I could, hold on." I pulled my phone from my ear and texted her.

_How would you like to go to a bonfire with me tonight?_ I hit the send button and put the phone back to my ear.

"Back, sorry about that." I could hear her phone vibrate from her end, a huge smile spread across my face.

"Um, hold on I just got a text."

My stomach dropped, what if she didn't want to go with me?

"Well I just got a interesting text." She laughed, her laugh was so mesmerizing, the best sound I've ever heard.

I played along with her, "Oh yeah? Who was it from?" She laughed even harder, which made me chuckle. " Just this guy... Oh and I would love to come with you."

My smile, if possible, just got way bigger. I would be able to see her soon.

I had no idea what to say next, I was speechless. "Alright! I'll pick you up at seven. Is that alright with you?" I managed to spit out without stuttering.

"Yeah that would be great, I live on 818 Irving. It's by the Newton store," she answered simply

"Got it, see you at seven."

"Bye Brady."

I hung up the phone and fell back onto my small bed, after a few minutes Collin walked in with Carmela at his side. Carmela look as if Christmas had came early. All the imprinted girls have a really weird bond to each other. Whenever they weren't with their imprinters, they were always with one of the wolf girls. Carmela was a part of that group too, but the girls are either older than her or way younger. Therefore she has not so patiently been waiting for me to imprint.

" Hey bro! We over heard your conversation and set the whole bonfire thing up," Collin said before kissing Carmela for probably the 90th time today.

"Oh, thanks." I was so exited to see her again I forgot for that I needed to actually plan the bonfire.

"Yeah, so go put some ice on that nasty hickey on your neck before she sees you and changes her mind," Carmela said teasingly.

**Sophia POV**

I was an idiot. World's biggest idiot. It's true that Brady is most definitely the best looking guy that I've ever laid my eyes on, but I can't even make logical sentences while I'm looking at him, how I'm I suppose to hang out with him!? I'm not usually nervous around guys but that weird adoration look he gives me makes my nerves go haywire.

"I bet this is like there way of initiation into their gang," Callie said seriously looking like one of those cliche popular girls in movies as she gossiped and filed her nails on my bed.

I rolled my eyes and laughed, "Shut up, I wouldn't hang out with gang members," I said before my phone started beeping loudly from the computer desk in my room.

It was an alarm set on my phone to remind me take my medicine because without it, I'm afraid I would forget too. I have more medication to take then any normal sixteen year old girl should, but then again, I'm not exactly normal. I grabbed two pill bottles from off the corner of my vanity and took a small round pink pill out from each of them. They were new medication given to me by my new doctor/model in Forks, Doctor Cullen. Besides the fact that he was supernaturally gorgeous, he seemed like a really nice man. Unlike the rest of my doctors that were really cold hearted and just ran tests and handed me perceptions, Dr. Cullen seemed to care about his patients. Beyond his odd golden colored eyes I could see the remorse that he had for every patient he lost. He gave me hope too that this disease would not be the death of me. My medication, though there are no guarantees, was suppose to help me live with my own heart until I could get a heart transplant.

It was only 6:00 and Callie was already placing outfits on me bed for me to try on. She may not approve of me going out tonight with a "drug dealing pimp" but she's all on picking out what I'll be wearing. She threw a pair of ripped jeans on the bed and walked back over to the walk in closet and grabbed a light purple v neck and a simple black zip up hoodie to go over it.

"You're actually going to help me when I'm going out with a gang member?" I said teasingly, still not believing for one minute that Brady or his friends would be involved with anything like that. I already knew the answer to that question though. Callie would help me get ready to have a date with a 90 year old if it meant she could use her sense of fashion on someone.

"I'm bored," she joked with a smile. I'm an only child and while Callie has an older sister, they never got a lot, so at the age of 10 Callie and I decided ourselves that we would become sisters. We've stayed close over the years, but we are a lot closer now that I made the move from Seattle to Forks.

"Do you think it will be awkward?" I asked nervously while I turned on my flat iron.

"Probably, first dates always are," Callie said with experience behind her statement. Callie is beautiful and has had her fair share of boyfriends and awkward first dates. I always use to admire her looks as we grew up. I admire a lot more then her looks now, the strength she has to put on her brave and happy face. Her life, like mine, has not been rainbows and smiles.

I was ready by 6:45 and sitting on the front porch with Callie as she drilled me on 'first date rules'. She almost started crying when she realized she had left the written list at home when for a first time it was needed. Her rules ranged from simple to bizarre. The basics of the rules consisted on; absolutely no sex, don't drink anything alcoholic, don't bring up anything personal, and only kiss him if you want to go on a second date. I felt a little stupid going through 'the rules' with her. By Brady's charm and looks, I'm sure he goes through girls faster than I can imagine. I made myself a mental note not to get attached to Brady in anyway. I felt my heart drop into my stomach when I seen the headlights come down my street.

"Good luck, if they really aren't drug dealers, bring me one home," Callie said as she walked back to her car to drive back to her big lonely house like mine.

I had never felt so insecure in my entire life. I was insecure about everything from what I was wearing to the perfume I had on. I had settled on the purple v neck with a lace black cami underneath and the black hoodie on top. I had on the silver cross necklace my grandmother had bought me before she died and was playing with it nervously as I walked to his truck.

"Hey Brady," I said and I actually didn't sound nervous, I was proud of myself.

"Hi Sophia," he said and he sounded excited while made me smile a little bit, "You're house is.."

"Too big," I finished for him with a soft laugh and he smiled at me.

"Was that your sister?" he asked and I assumed he was referring to Callie who had just sped down the street in her new little red sport car.

"Nah, I'm an only child. That's my cousin Callie," I answered and he listened to everything I said with an interest, "What about you? Do you have siblings?"

"I have a little sister, Hope, she's five," he with a huge smile on his face. I always wanted siblings, but it was out of the question. One unplanned daughter was more than enough for my cold hearted parents.

"Aw, that's a cute name." I said and was surprised about how this wasn't really as awkward as I expected.

"She's the most spoiled five year old in the state of Washington, you'll meet her tonight," he said with another smile that made my dysfunctional heart skip beats.

La Push was unlike Seattle or Forks. It was really beautiful covered with thick green forests and small plazas along the roads. It felt relaxing being here. There was a small wooden sign that said First Beach and we pulled in and parked. He opened my door for me, something I don't remember any guy ever doing for me. I smiled at him for my 'thank you' and by the reaction in his eyes, it seemed like he appreciated the gesture.

"I'm glad you wanted to come," he said and once again his voice sounded so sincere that I believed him. I'll decide later whether or not that was such a good idea.

"Thanks for inviting me, I haven't really done much since I moved here," I said honestly. Callie always invited me to the parties she would go to, but I never had the interest to go. Beer and heart medication never went together and drunks are never funny unless you are one of them.

It was quite for a minute as we started walking towards the beach. I heard loud giggling getting closer and then suddenly I watched as the two cutest little girls I ever seen ran right into Brady's legs. They both had dark black hair that was braided and cooper colored skin. They didn't look any older than five years old, but for some reason one of them was holding a set of car keys and the other had a look of determination in her eyes as she stared at one of the red trucks in the parking lot.

"Hope, what are you doing?!" Brady asked in a teasing voice and picked up the little girl and kissed her forehead.

"Stealing Collin's car!" she squirmed and attempted to free herself from Brady's arms, but failed.

"You don't know how to drive princess," he explained to her but she didn't seem to agree.

"Yes I do Braden," Hope said dragging out Brady's full name.

"CLAIRE!? WHERE ARE YOU?" A deep loud voice came up from behind us.

"Busted," the girl who I assumed was, Claire, sighed in defeat.

A boy that looked similar to Brady walked up behind us. He was a little shorter then Brady but still easily over 6 feet tall.

"Whose this one, Brady?" his friend asked and the tone of his voice made me want to scream. This one. This one as in there has been many girls before me and will probably be many after. I rolled my eyes and the gesture didn't go unnoticed by his friend.

"This is Sophia and this idiot is Quil," Brady replied with a death glare in Quil's direction.

"She's pretty, I like her!" Hope exclaimed from Brady's arms before he placed her own the ground and I smiled down at her.

There was a lot more people then I had expected to be at the beach. I was having trouble remembering faces with names because all the guys looked pretty similar.

They all were tall, muscular, and shared the same dark colored skin. I remembered who Quil and Embry were because they had weird names and Paul because he always seemed to be fighting with someone. I met Brady's boss, a really strict looking guy named Sam, but for some reason I didn't ask what his job was.

I learned that the girls were; Emily, Kim, Melody, Rachel, and Carmela. They were all really different but clung together like a pack. I had always wanted to be in a group like that. All the girls were really sweet but extremely different, the only thing they shared is that they seemed completely and utterly in love with the the guys they were here with. I stood by them while I watched the guys eat more food then I thought physically imaginable.

"They eat so much," I said in awe as I watched as Brady and Collin eat their eighth hot dog.

"Oh, I know. I spend half my pay check on buying food for Collin," Carmela said and smiled in Collin's direction.

"And then they try and tell us they're starving, pshh!" Embry's girlfriend, Melody, said with a laugh. She was a beautiful girl and her happiness seemed to just spill out of her.

"Billy's here!" Hope screamed and ran off in the direction of the parking lot with Claire behind her. They were the most adorable best friends and reminded me of Callie and I when we were younger. Quil ran after them and I still didn't understand they relation behind them. Quil watched her like she was his own daughter, but he looked kind of young to have a five year old.

"Come here, I want you to meet Billy," Brady said gently grabbing my hand and leading me over to where Billy was. I smiled and looked down momentarily at our laced fingers. We looked good together, but I shook the thought out of my head quickly.

Billy Black was a sweet man, the kind you would want for a father. He was wheel chair bound but he still had this bright smile on his gentle face. Everyone there seemed to treat him as if he was family, including the girls. He looked at everyone here as a member of family and I couldn't help but be jealous. Everyone here seemed so loved by many people and I couldn't help but envy that. He welcomed me to the reservation with such sincerity I wanted to hug him.

"Are you cold?" Brady asked sweetly and I nodded.

He smiled and wrapped his large warm arms around my body and I felt the butterflies fill my stomach.

Butterflies. It was a feeling I hadn't felt with someone in a really long time. I kicked myself mentally, I couldn't think like this.

"Why are you so warm?" I asked quietly as I sat on his lap on a chair that was next to Carmela and Collin. Carmela was smiling so widely that it looked like her face was going to break.

He stuttered on his answer, "It runs in our genes."

I'm not Native American and I've never heard any Native American legends, but I don't think anyone would be able to tell them better then how Billy did. His words sunk into my head and everyone eyes stayed focused on him the entire time. He finished the legends after about an hour and if werewolves and vampires weren't totally unrealistic, I would believe everything he just said was facts. After he finished with the legends I talked to Carmela for awhile and played hide and seek with Brady's little sister with the help of Brady. It was fun, innocent sweet fun that I hadn't had since my health started deteriorating.

"It's almost one, are you parents going to be mad I kept you out this late?" Brady asked.

I looked at my phone which flashed the time, 12:45. I didn't' think it had gotten that late, but it didn't really matter, my parents weren't home.

"It doesn't matter, but I'm kind of tired," I said honestly as I let out a small yawn. That's another downside to my disease, not that there are an upsides, I'm always tired.

He picked me up and I screamed in surprise and he laughed, "You're cute Sophia," he said nervously as though he wasn't sure he was suppose to say it, but his eyes told a different story. It was that really weird look filled with so much love that I thought I had to be seeing things. He carried me to his truck and then placed me gently on my feet.

"Thanks," I said with a laugh and he smiled immediately.

The ride home was quite, but not awkward. He would look at me when he thought I wasn't looking and smile at me and I could feel my heart accelerated every time. He pulled into my driveway around one and I didn't want to leave him.

Shit. I couldn't think like that.

"Are you sure your parents aren't going to mad?" he asked nervously as he got out to walk me to the door.

"They aren't here," I answered simply. They're never home. They enjoy traveling and their sick daughter does not keep them from it.

"Where are your parents?" he asked looking up at the dark house while I searched for my house key in my purse.

"Traveling, I think they're in Italy," I shrugged.

"You're here..all by yourself?" he asked nervously.

"Callie's usually here with me, but yeah," I answered simply. It wasn't a big issue, not for me anyway.

"Just be careful, okay?" he said and I didn't understand why he was saying this, but I just nodded anyway.

"Good night Sophia," he said sweetly and kissed me with his warm lips on the cheek. I felt like I couldn't breath. This Native American sex god just kissed me! Me, Sophia, the dying girl!

_Pull yourself together!_ "Bye Brady," I managed to get out with a smile before I opened my door and slipped inside.

I fell asleep with this odd sense of security around me and I knew that my mental note not to get attached to Brady was going to be harder then I ever imagined.

A/N: Review!(:


	3. Pills in the Underwear Drawer

**A/N: Sorry this took longer to get out, life is hetic. The next chapter should be up a lot sooner, since it's half way done right now. 22 helps me write and I have a beta, Skye Evans(:**

**Sophia's POV**

**"Some believe in destiny, and some believe in fate**

**I believe that happiness is something we create"- Something more, Sugarland**

The sun shined through the window in my bedroom, waking me up from my not-so-peaceful sleep. I tossed and turned all night, and I swore that I heard some sort of animal circling around my house. I yawned and buried my head into the fluffy pillow, not ready to face the day. I was always tired, and if no one would come in wake me up, I swear I could sleep for days straight. I heard my phone ring from my nightstand, and I sighed. Maybe it was Brady,I thought hopefully, and wished someone would punch me every time I thought things like that.

It wasn't Brady. It was Alexis, my cold-hearted mother. Alexis wasn't aware of her demotion from mother in my book, but I doubt she would care if she knew. She was currently prancing around places I could only dream of, while they left me credit cards and expensive cars to make up for their absence.

"Hello?" I said into the phone as I walked out of my room and into the hallway.

"_Buona martina_. That means good morning in Italian, did you know that?" Alexis' voice said through the phone, and I rolled my eyes to myself. Sadly, she could annoy me even though we were in different countries.

"I know, I took Italian as a freshman," I reminded her as I walked into the kitchen. The marble floors were freezing, and I shivered as my bare feet connected with them. I really missed Brady's warmth at that moment, but I shook the thought out of my head as quickly as it came.

"Oh well, you have a doctor's appointment Monday at 4:00. Had any trouble breathing?" she asked as if we were discussing dinner plans.

"Nope. I gotta go, Callie's beeping in," I lied and hung up before she could even get out a goodbye.

I placed the phone down on the counter and stood on my tip toes to reach the medicine cabinet. I grabbed an orange prescription bottle and popped one of the circular pills. I hated all this stupid medication that I needed to take, the side effects usually leaving me feeling sick or completely exhausted. I grabbed a Pop Tart out of the cabinet and ate it quickly before I lost my appetite completely.

I silently wondered what Brady was doing today. I knew that I shouldn't be thinking about anything that had to do with him. He probably wouldn't even call me again, and although I could be okay with that, there was this feeling the pit of my stomach that wished he would.

I've never been in love or anything close to it. I've had boyfriends who I liked and hoped that one day I could love, but the feeling never came, and the more I tried to force it, the quicker all the feelings seemed to disappear. I'd always been okay with that form of temporary affection, but after last night as I watched all of Brady's friend treat their girlfriends as if they were the center of their universe, I craved love more than anything.

I wanted that; I was entirely sick of being lonely. I needed to be confident and bold because my shyness and insecurities were not going to get my anywhere. I grabbed my cell phone off the counter and dialed Brady's number. I wasn't going to wait around for him to call, and if he didn't answer, that would be the end of it.

The phone rang three times before he answered, "Hello?" he said sounding as if he was half-asleep.

"Hi, it's Sophia. Sorry if I woke you up," I apologized while wondering what he could have possibly done after dropping me off that would leave him still in bed at one in the afternoon.

"No, it's fine. What are you doing?"

"Not much. Did you…uh want to hang out today?" I asked hopefully.

"Sure," he said quickly, and I smiled to myself knowing that he hadn't compared me with something better to do.

"Okay, wanna come over?" I asked while twirling a piece of my dark hair.

"Yeah, see you in an hour?"

I nodded even though he couldn't see me, "That's cool. Bye, Brady."

"Bye Soph," he said, and even though I hated that nickname from anyone else, it made me smile slightly when he said it.

I showered quickly and left my hair in its natural waves. I changed into a dark pair of jeans and a turquoise-colored polo. When I was finishing my make up, I noticed something that usually means nothing to me: the orange pill bottles.

I don't tell everyone I know about my disease, but I never made the extra effort to hide it. Whenever someone would ask me why I was at the hospital so much or why I had medicine bottles lined up everywhere, I didn't hesitate to tell them. Everyone in Seattle knew about it, and the amount of pity, I got was overwhelming annoying. I wanted to tell Brady for the simple fact that I was horrible at keeping things from people, but it's not exactly an easy thing to say.

_I like hanging out with you, Brady, and we should do something again. Oh! Just so you know, my heart can decide to stop working on me any day now, is that okay with you?_

Yeah, definitely not happening.

I grabbed the two bottles from my vanity and shoved them in my underwear drawer. As soon as I shut the drawer, I heard the loud echo of the doorbell from downstairs. I ran down the stairs and opened the door.

Looking at Brady made me have a hard time believing this wasn't a dream. Guys like him weren't suppose to pay any attention to girls like me. That was just how life worked.

"Hey!" I said and mentally kicked myself for putting so much excitement in my voice.

"Hi Sophia," he breathed, and it was in between cute and odd.

I moved over so he could come in, and I got a stole a glimpse at his dark eyes as he stared down at me. They held so much affection; no one in my entire 16 years of life had ever looked at me like that, and I didn't understand it.

"You look exhausted," I observed as I closed the door behind us. He probably went out after he dropped me off, to party with pretty girls that could actually drink and not have to worry about heart medication side effects.

He nodded, "Yeah, I had to work after I dropped you off," he responded as I sat down on the leather couch, and he followed after me.

I looked at him oddly. "Where do you work?"

"It's a security thing for the rez," he stuttered on his answer, his eyes giving away that he wasn't telling the whole truth.

I raised my eyebrow at him. "Aren't you a little young to be a like a cop?" I asked curiously.

He smirked, "It's more complicated than that."

"I heard you're in a gang," I said and watched as panic coated his eyes.

"That's not true. I'm…I'm not like that, Sophia," he said, and the sincerity in his voice was undeniable.

"I never said I believed them," I said honestly. Although I love Callie, we were different in so many ways, it was a surprise we get along. I didn't jump to conclusions, and I could never judge someone off something that wasn't fact.

"I'm not that kind of guy, please don't listen to what people tell you," Brady begged me, and I smiled, why did he care what I thought about him?

"I said I believed you," I reminded him honestly.

The feelings that I had when I was around Brady couldn't be described. Even though this was only the third time we'd met, I felt like there was something pulling me towards him. I knew if I tried to explain this to anyone, they would think I was insane. But that was how I felt, like there was a magnetic force pushing me towards him.

"Do you wanna watch a movie?" I asked after flipping through the channel and finding nothing on. Sunday television was never the best.

He nodded, and I pointed to the thing that held all the DVDs. "You can pick one. I'm not really for making guys sit through chick flicks."

He sighed in relief. "Thank God, I think Collin knows every word from _A Walk To Remember_ thanks to Carmela," he said with laugh.

"That's a good movie!" I defended with a soft laugh.

"Yeah, bad boy falls for a dying girl, and he's lonely for the rest of his life. Amazing movie," he said. I knew he was just teasing, and he had no idea what that sentence could have possibly meant, but it still made my heart drop.

I faked a believable smile, "Do you want something to drink?" I asked, changing the topic quickly.

"Water's fine," he replied, and I nodded and walked into the kitchen.

I opened the cupboard and one of the cups was too close to the edge. It fell out and shattered when it hit the floor with an echo.

"Dammit," I muttered under my breathe and looked over as Brady ran into the kitchen.

"Are you okay?" he asked examining me up and down for any damage.

I looked at him oddly. "Yeah, the glass just broke," I explained.

"What's this?" Brady asked, while grabbing a pill bottle on the kitchen table that clearly read _Sophia Lavear _on the label.

I should have just told him the truth, but I didn't.

"They're sleeping pills, I have trouble sleeping in this house all by myself," I said, and I was shocked how fluent my lie was.

He shrugged and put the bottle down, and I sighed internally in relief.

"Do you want me to clean that up? I don't want you to get cut," he offered.

I had the urge to ask him 'Why would you care?', but I kept my mouth shut.

"Nah, I got it," I replied while grabbing the broom and sweeping up the broken glass.

"Do you like being here all by yourself?" he asked while looking around trying to evaluate just how big the house really was.

"Not at all. It's so quiet and boring."

I walked back into the living room with Brady behind me. He sat much closer next to me on the couch and made his first real move off the day by placing his large warm hand on my thigh.

"Why don't you travel with them, then?"

I shrugged. "We're not very close, and I have to go to school," I responded while mentally adding things like 'I couldn't get a hold of my doctor' or 'I probably couldn't keep up with my parents even though they're twice my age'.

He started tracing circles on my thigh and I smile instinctively. I couldn't remember a time in my life when I smiled as much as I did when I was around Brady. The simplest things he did made me want to smile, and it confused me and scared me at the same time. The same nagging thought popped into my head constantly. Girls like me weren't suppose to be with guys like Brady. He was too good looking and smooth to be with a girl like me with too many flaws.

"You smile so much," he said in awe, but it still made me blush.

"Is that a bad thing?" I questioned, hoping to God that I wasn't making myself look like an idiot in front of him.

He chuckled. "Of course not. You look beautiful when you smile," he added more sheepishly at the end.

Beautiful. It was such a strong word, so much better then hot or sexy. It was a word not often used by the male population of my generation, and most definitely not used often to describe me. Before I could respond, our eyes connected, and we both seemed to lean into each other at the same time.

Our lips touched, and it had been many years since I felt the emotion I was feeling right now: complete happiness. For that one minute, I didn't think about my condition or my unloving parents; the only thing I could think about was him and how in the world I'd managed to catch his eye. His kiss was soft and sweet, not like those kisses that were meant to lead to something much more sexual. It was sweet and simple, but what it would bring, I knew, would not be so simple


	4. Differences

**A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews everyone! Twilightdreamer.22 helped me write a lot of this chapter and Skye Evans fixed it up(: Hope you like it, review!**

**Brady's POV**  
_"Forever has no meaning when you're living in the moment. I wasn't ready for that moment to end." -Burned, Ellen Hopkins_

We were lying on the couch, watching _The Betrayed_. I had never really wanted to imprint, but now having Sophia in my arms, I wished it had come sooner. I leaned into her, smelling her sweet coconut scent that flowed freely off her perfect body. She must have noticed because her heart speed up, making me smile inwardly. I had seen this movie before, so I knew that it was coming to the end soon.

Would she want me to leave?

Just like I had predicted, the credits started rolling across the screen. I looked over at her to see that she had fallen asleep. I gently tapped her shoulder but she didn't move. I tapped it again and she mumbled something I didn't catch. I took my other hand out of her much smaller one and brushed a piece of dark wavy hair out of her face, but she still didn't move. I gently kissed her cheek, and this time she moved slightly and rubbed her eyes with her small fist. I couldn't help but laugh a little; my imprint was too adorable.

After gaining full consciousness, she sat up the looked at me and smiled again. I loved her smile, especially when I was the reason for it. If the only thing I did in my life was keep that smile on her face, I;d die a happy man.

"Sorry," she said. I propped my head up on my elbow and gave her a questioning look. "For falling asleep," she finished.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Don't worry about it," I said with a smile.

She stood up and looked at me still lying down on the sofa. "What about a tour of the house?" She asked unsurely.

"I would love that," I answered, as I took her hand in mine, intertwining our fingers, noticing how perfect they fit together.

We made it up the spiral staircase after finishing the downstairs. Her house was unbelievable huge. I didn't understand why they needed such a big house since she was an only child and her parents weren't even living there at the moment. My family didn't have a lot of money, so maybe I just didn't understand the mind set of wealthy people. Although her house was beyond nice, besides furniture, there was no evidence that a family lived there at all. The walls were almost entirely bare, with only a few framed pictured scattered across them. I noticed that in the few pictures there was, she was never standing with her parents.

One specific picture stood out to me. It was she and Callie, the girl with her when we met. They were standing on the beach. Sophia looked gorgeous, like she always did, with her long hair tied up and the white bikini showed off her petite, but curvy, body. What stood out the most to me was the star tattoos that started at her right hip bone and worked up the side.

"You have a tattoo?" I asked surprised. She didn't' seem like the type of girl that would have or want any tattoos, but it was hot.

She laughed, pulling up the hem of her shirt to relieve the bottom of her flat honey colored stomach, and I saw the same tattoo from the picture.

"Yeah, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing, Callie got one on her sixteen birthday, and I went with her and decided to get one too," she explained and pulled her shirt back down.

"I like it," I told her and honestly. I liked everything and anything about her.

She smiled softly at the compliment and continued to point out rooms. She pointed out an office and another bathroom before she stopped at a door that had a handmade sign on it. It said Sophia in cursive with two little flowers at the beginning and end of her name.

She pointed to the little sign. "Callie thinks she's artistic," she said, and I chuckled.

Her room was a light green with dark brown furnishings. It was the only room in the house I'd seen with any actual color: everything else was just plain neutral colors. The bed was in the middle, and I smirked at the pile of blankets she had neatly folded up at the bottom of her bed. She had two matching bedside tables, which had black lamps on them. A desk was pushed in the corner with a laptop and various magazines placed on it.

As we walked farther in, I could see the room got even bigger on the right side. There was a huge window with a window seat and a bookshelf next to it. The bookshelf was filled completely and very tidy. Her whole room was tidy, unlike mine, where I would go weeks without seeing the carpet.

"Nice room." I said with a nod, as she walked over to her bed and sat down.

She smiled sheepishly, "Thanks, I picked out most of the stuff."

I looked at the books again, "You like reading?" I didn't know that much about her, although I wished I did.

"Yeah, most of my favorites are in the library though." She shrugged her shoulders. I chuckled. The girl had a library in her house- amazing.

I looked over at the CD cases she had placed on her nightstand. I recognized and liked a few of the bands, which was a good thing since my ex loved every band I hated. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket; I took it out and flipped it open. Speak of the devil, I thought to myself. It was a text from Alexandra, my ex.

**Hey baby I miss you! Come over later?**

I quickly texted back a simple 'no' before directing my attention back to Sophia.

"Did you want to…" my sentence was cut off by my phone ringing.

I groaned, pulling the phone out of my pocket and looked at the caller ID: Alexandra. I knew if I didn't answer she would continue to call. Alex was a repetitive and determined person. I sighed, apologizing to Sophia with my eyes before answering.

"Brady, what the fuck was up with that text!?" Her voice had never been this annoying before, but maybe it was just that it was nowhere near as soft as my Sophia's.

"I'm busy, Alex. Why are you even calling?" I asked, praying that Alex wouldn't say anything stupid because I knew Sophia, who was sitting a few feet away on her bed, could hear everything she was saying.

"Because you're being an ass! You weren't acting like this at Marissa's last weekend," she yelled over the blaring music in the background of wherever she was.

Sophia glanced at me with sad eyes before turning her attention back to her cell phone, and I automatically felt horrible. Embry, who had imprinted on my old neighbor, Melody, had explained this to me before; you felt whatever your imprint felt.

Here I was standing in Sophia's house, talking to my obnoxiously loud ex-girlfriend who just announced that we'd been together last weekend. My imprint was going to hate me before I could even get the chance to know her.

"I don't care; I'm busy. Bye, Alex."

She huffed, yelling at someone in the background to let her 'hit that', "Whatever, call me when you're done playing games," she exhaled whatever she was smoking loudly before hanging up.

I looked back over at Sophia who was still concentrated on the computer. "I'm sorry… that was my ex, and if I don't answer, she'd never stop calling," I explained, mentally kicking myself for referring to Alex as my ex-girlfriend.

"Oh well, I'm not like that, if she's the type of girls you're into," she said, her dark eyes boring into mine.

I looked at her skeptically. "Like what?" I asked dumbly.

"Wild, loud, party girl," she paused. "I'm not like tha,t and I won't ever be," she finished.

What she had said made me realize just exactly how different Sophia and Alex were. Alex held a beauty that was only there thanks to hair-dye, make-up, and short tight clothes. During the wasted six months I spent with Alex, the times we actually had a meaningful conversation could be counted on one hand. Our relationship consisted of the pattern; sex, fight, break up, make up. Alex was extremely wild, a trait I learned quickly I did not want in a girlfriend.

Sophia was different, different in the best ways possible. She was sweet and actually listened when I spoke, something I definitely had not had with Alex.

Besides that, Sophia was naturally breathtakingly beautiful. Everything from her dark doe eyes to her dimples seemed to amaze me. I'd been with a lot of girls- a list longer then I'd like to admit- but Sophia was easily the best looking of all of them.

"I don't want someone like that. If I did, she would still by my girlfriend."

She nodded. "Okay, I guess I'll take your word for it." She sat Indian style on her bed and moved over so I could sit next to her.

"So tell me what La Push is like," she asked and tilted her head to the side slightly.

"I've never lived anywhere else, so I don't know…it's just home," I replied.

"You guys don't really jump off of cliffs there, right?" she asked nervously, as if she shouldn't be, and lay down, fixing her eyes on the ceiling.

I laughed loudly, "Sophia, who tells you this stuff?"

"Callie, but I don't believe everything she tells me. So I'm asking you."

"Yeah, we go cliff diving," I stated simply, not realizing how odd that must have sounded to a girl who was from Seattle.

"So let me get this straight," she paused. "You guys are so bored that you jump off cliffs for fun?" she asked with wide eyes, and I laughed at her observation.

"I guess you can say that," I smiled and lay down next to her.

She rolled over into my side. "You're so warm," she said, and I wrapped my arms around her. The feeling I had when I held Sophia in my arms was indescribable. I now understood why all my brothers had to be near their imprints near at all times.

"So what do you want to do now?" I asked, hoping she wouldn't want me to leave yet.

"Kiss me again," she offered sweetly, and I was completely obligated to do whatever my Sophia wanted.


	5. Science Fiction Was No longer Fiction

**A/N: Twilightdreamer.22 helped me write this chapter, so make sure you look at her stories! I don't really know about this chapter, so let me know what you think. Skye Evans betaed.**

**Sophia's POV**

_Before I met you I wasn't terribly lucky  
Every prince charming lost charm after twelve_- Something, Shakira

"Alright, listen, you two!" I yelled, a weak attempt to sound like I had any authority."I'm leaving, and when I come back everything better look the way it does now," I paused. "And have some clothes on, please," I added only half-jokingly to Callie who threw a pillow at my face. Callie's new pale-faced boy toy, Tyler, laughed a velvet laugh beside her. Tyler had been coming over for the past few days, and he seemed nice, but there was just something odd about him I couldn't quite put my finger on. He seemed flawless, and perfection is not a human trait.

"This is my house, too!" Callie returned, and I rolled my eyes jokingly. Callie moved in a few days ago, claiming she could not get enough of her 'beauty sleep' with her sister's crying newborn daughter. I didn't mind; it was nice having someone around all the time.

"Until I kick you out," I sang while grabbing my purse out of the kitchen.

"Did you take your pill?" Callie asked, and I rushed back into the kitchen grabbing the correct prescription bottle and popping one of the pills. Making sure I took my medicine had always been a consuming thought on my mind, but it seemed to have been replaced with the seventeen-year-old native that wanted to spend all his time with me.

It had been a week since our first kiss and there had been many more since, kisses that left me with such a feeling of joy that I found myself falling asleep with a smile on my face. The simple fact that someone had an interest in me gave me the much-needed confidence I'd never had. I had tried to find some sort of ulterior motive to why Brady would want to hang out with me, but I was starting to think: maybe I wasn't that bad after all.

I ran out to my car and unlocked the door quickly; I couldn't stand to be out in the cold for very long. I threw my purse on the passenger seat and placed my phone in the cup holder.

I was suppose to leave five minutes ago to pick up Brady, but it had taken me longer than I expected to pick out what I wanted to wear and to attempt to tell Callie not to trash the house. I didn't think Brady would mind much; he had probably slept in anyways. He had to report to his security job at two in the morning last night, and I knew this because he had not left my house until 1:50. I had never appreciated my parents being gone so much. He had stayed over late almost every night of the week and though I was very tempted to ask, he never slept over. Inviting a man to sleep in your bed in my mind, automatically meant sex, and although I was fascinated by Brady, I was not ready to lose my virginity to someone I met last week.

Yes, you heard me correctly, I'm a virgin. The sixteen-year-old virgin is not commonly found in my high school. There wasn't much to do in this small town of Forks, so everyone around here just seemed to have sex to ease the boredom. I wasn't saving myself for marriage or anything like that; I just hadn't been close enough with anyone where it would feel right. My ex and I had come close to sleeping together many times, but it had always just felt so wrong.

Brady had invited me over to Emily's because according to him, that's where everyone hung out on Sundays. I couldn't help but wonder if or how many times he had brought Alex over there. Her name alone agitated me. How serious had they been? How long were they together? Questions about her always filled my mind, but I felt like it would be rude to ask.

I pulled up to the address Brady had given me. Apparently, something was wrong with his truck and Embry was fixing it, so I offered to pick him up. I didn't mind; I barely got the chance to drive my car. I texted him telling him I was here and fidgeted with the radio.

He walked outside, and I felt myself unintentionally smile at the sight of him.

He opened the door with a smile. "Hey Sophia," he said as he kissed my cheek softly.

We weren't official, but we sure acted like it. I wondered if he was like this with all girls- so smooth. Maybe he was just like that with me, but I scoffed at that idea; it wasn't like there was anything special about me.

"Don't you ever get cold?" I asked as I observed his outfit; a thin white tee shirt and cut off sweat pants.

He chuckled."Not really," he said simply and placed a warm hand on my thigh. It took everything I had in me to concentrate on the road and not attack him with my lips.

*~*

Emily's house was small, but the atmosphere was extremely warm. The house was completely filled; almost everyone that was at the bonfire was crammed into the house. Everyone seemed so comfortable with each other, and I felt like the odd person out. Brady and his friends seemed like a family, and I could only wonder what it would be like to be loved by such a large number of people.

"Hey Sophia," the girl that I remembered as Melody said with a wave. She was smashed on the couch between two guys I remembered as Quil and Embry. I was surprised I remembered their names because, in all honesty, I had only focused my attention on Brady the night of the bonfire.

"Hi Melody," I replied and smiled slightly. I didn't know Melody well, but I liked her. She had goodness in her that couldn't be denied.

"Carm is in the kitchen with Emily if you want to go talk to her," she said before resting her head on her boyfriend's shoulder. He grinned before kissing her forehead lovingly and then focusing his eyes back on the T.V.

I felt my whole body swell with jealousy. Could Brady and I ever be that way? I would've done anything for the pure joy the girls held in their eyes while they were with their boyfriends.

I'd known Brady for a little over a week, and I was already pathetically attached to him. I didn't want to get so attached to him; it was the one thing I prayed wouldn't happen, but his soft kisses and sweet compliments made it hard. I had never in my life been so drawn to someone as I was to Brady,

There was still this nagging thought in my mind that screamed: _He doesn't even know who are. _I hadn't worked up the courage to tell Brady about my heart because like I said before, I was attached and afraid that if he knew about my condition, he would forget about me completely.

"Please tell me Carmela is not trying to cook again," Brady said shaking his head, and I laughed at the expression on his face.

"Brady, be nice," Melody said in a very motherly voice.

I detached myself from Brady and walked into the kitchen, which smelled heavily of burning water.

"I give up, Emily!" Carmela said throwing down the spoon on the counter and folding her arms against her chest.

"Hey, I wasn't the best cook either. But its nothing a few home ec classes can't fix," I said with a smile as I made my way into the kitchen.

Carmela turned around and smiled warmly at me. "Hey Sophia! I didn't know you were coming," she said as she hugged me.

"Brady invited me; I hope that's okay," I said nervously. They seemed like such a close-knit group of friends, I didn't want to intrude.

The beautiful girl with the scars, Emily, waved my response off. "It's fine, sweetie; we could always use more girls around here with all these guys," she said, smiling, before turning around and attempting to fix the mess Carmela had made.

I looked at them longingly, wondering if I could ever be lucky enough to be part of their exclusive group.

**Brady's POV **

Sophia and I were smashed on Emily's tiny loveseat watching some T.V show that I wasn't really paying attention to. I didn't really focus on anything but her when she was around; nothing held as much interest to me as she did.

I started to rub little circles on Sophia arm, and she leaned into me. I wrapped my arm around her. As I leaned down to kiss the top of her head, she giggled adorably. Her laugh was so soothing; it was my favorite sound in the world. She looked up at me, and I kissed her on her plump lips.

What did I do to deserve her? She was so breathtakingly perfect. To imprint on her had to be pure lucky, and to think a few months ago I wished I had imprinted on Alex, ha! I was the happiest I had ever been when I was with Sophia. She made me laugh constantly, and she did the most unintentionally adorable things that made my day. I felt like there had to be a catch with her, but there never was.

"You guys are so cute!" Melody cooed from her spot on the recliner with Embry.

Sophia blushed before smiling sweetly. I beamed. My imprint was the cutest thing in the world.

I noticed Paul walk in the living room from the kitchen and take the seat next to Carmela. Collin had run down the street to get his phone charger, leaving the spot next to Carmela open. Paul sat down, basically on top of her, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. I sighed. Ever since Rachel had left a few days ago for some business trip, Paul had been irritating everyone.

"So Carmela, how's it going?" He said with a huge grin on his face, clearly enjoying how uncomfortable she was.

"It going fine, I guess," she replied and tried to move his arm, but he didn't move. I glared at him. Carmela was like a little sister to me, and Collin was my best friend. I knew Collin would be beyond pissed if he were here right now. I could tell by Carmela's eyes that she was scared. Carmela knew about the pack and knew firsthand how mad Paul could get.

Paul laughed. "I don't bite," he said and started to rub her shoulder.

"I would sure as hell hope not," she muttered, and I smiled at her; the girl couldn't hide all her spunk.

"Paul, leave her alone," Melody spoke up after removing her lips from Embry's.

Melody was a sweetheart, who loved the pack entirely, but she and Paul did not get along at all. It all started a few years back when Embry was trying to ignore his imprint, and Paul slapped her ass at a party. Melody then proceeded to throw her beer on him.

"Yeah Paul, I think you've embarrassed her enough," I agreed, and he looked at me as if I was being the ignorant one.

"I am having a conversation, Brady. Mind your own business," he said before directing his attention back to Carmela. "Want to hear a funny story about Collin?" he asked, continuing without a answer. "Well, before he imprinted-"

"Paul!" I yelled, cutting him off. I hadn't told Sophia anything about the pack or imprinting, yet.

"Don't worry, Sophia. I have a few stories for you too," he said with a wink, and I growled menacingly at him.

Collin walked through the front door, instantly glaring at Paul, "Can I help you?" Collin said to Paul, walking over to where he and Carmela were sitting.

"Nah, your girl and I were just having a conversation if it weren't for Brady and dumbass interrupting," he said glaring at Melody .

"What the fuck did you just call her!?" Embry said jumping up from his seat as Paul stood up.

Oh for the love of God, Sophia was going to think we were all insane by the end of the day.

"Don't talk about her like that," Embry hissed at him before shoving him across the room.

"Fucking push me again," Paul said, tilting his head to the side.

Embry shoved him again and that's when shit really hit the fan. Paul swung at him, punching him in the nose with a disgusting crackling noise. Embry recovered quickly, swinging and hitting him in the mouth. Paul's shaking increased, and he phased, pieces of his shredded clothes flew everywhere.

My first thought was to get Sophia out of the house. I pulled her off the couch and onto the front porch in a matter of seconds. She looked absolutely terrified. I hadn't put too much thought into how I would explain this to her. I hadn't been planning on telling her anytime soon.

She was literally shaking, throwing terrified glances between me and the house. This was everyday normal stuff to me, but this was an entirely new world for Sophia. I had been part of this mythically world of vampires and shape-shifters for so long, that I forgot what the shock was like when I found out.

"Sophia, I'm so sorry," I apologized, feeling horrible that she was shaking and scared in my presence. I was her imprinter, her lover, her protector; she shouldn't have to feel afraid.

"What.. what was that?" she asked, and her voice shook as she nervously ran a hand through her dark hair.

I sighed. I had a lot of explaining to do.


	6. Forever and Sophia is like Oil and Water

**Sophia's POV**

What. The. Fuck.

I wasn't big on cursing, but I couldn't think of any better words to describe what I just saw. This just couldn't be happening, werewolves didn't exist! It wasn't scientifically possible; it wasn't the way the world was. Yet it was crystal clear in my mind what had just happened- Paul's clothes being torn to shreds and replaced by gray fur. Had I completely lost my mind?

"What… what was that?" I asked, finally trusting my voice enough to speak.

Brady sighed, pulling me closer to him. "Our legends," he paused, "well, they're not just legends, Sophia, they're real," he said and words like werewolf and cold ones filled my head.

If his culture's legends about shape-shifters and cold ones were true, then I had been living in a very different world than the one I thought I was living in. How had they managed to keep this so well-hidden?

"Are you a wolf too?" I asked, I couldn't believe I was asking questions like this. Could I ever get use to this?

He nodded, "I'd never hurt you though, if that's what you're worried about."

He looked at me so nervously, as if I were a porcelain doll about to break.

For some unknown reason, I wasn't even thinking about the fact that Brady could seriously hurt me, even kill me. I didn't care. I had an odd trust in Brady, and I knew he wouldn't hurt me.

"I know," I said, and a small smile crept across his face. "I just don't understand this," I told him honestly.

One after another, questions filled my mind. Had he always been a wolf? Why was he a werewolf? Would he always be a wolf or could he stop being one?

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Let's go somewhere so you don't freeze, and I'll try to explain everything," he said and reached over to grab my shaking hand.

I couldn't be sure if I was shaking from the cold or from the shock of what I had just learned. It was the end of November and therefore, very cold, and my thin long-sleeved shirt wasn't keeping me very warm, so I agreed.

We walked back inside, and before I even reached the couch to grab my purse, Emily ran out of the kitchen and grabbed my arm.

"Sophia, I'm so sorry you had to see all that," she apologized sincerely.

I was about to reply when a realization popped into my head that made my body stiffen. Her scars. The bright red scars that covered one side of her face, weren't from a bear like Brady had told me. They were claw marks, but I think it was more likely that a wolf was responsible for them. Emily seemed sweet, but I didn't want to be mauled like that. I meant what I said, I trusted Brady, but I never said I trusted his friends. Were they all wolves? If they were, who was the one that did that to her?

"It's okay, I just need to talk to Brady," I replied, my voice shaking again as I continued thinking about the truth behind her scars.

Before I knew it, she had wrapped her arms around me and hugged me. "It's not as scary as it seems, I promise," she whispered in my ear.

I weakly smiled at her as I made my way out of the house and out to the car. He held my hand, rubbing soothing circles on it. I tried to relax, but that was easier said than done.

"Where do you wanna go?" I asked as I began backing out of Emily's driveway.

"We can go to my house; my parents took my sister to some play in Port Angeles," he said, and I nodded. "Plus, you've never been in my house," he added, trying to place some normalcy in our conversation.

"Alright that's fine. Callie has Tyler over, and only God knows what they're doing," I said with a cringe, and Brady chuckled. He placed his hand on my thigh and then looked in my eyes to make sure I was okay with it.

"How is living with her going?" he asked. Brady and I would talk on the phone for hours every night; he knew almost every little detail of my life. Key word in that sentence: _almost_.

"She keeps me entertained," I said with a small smile. "The guys are a bit of a pain in the ass though," I said truthfully.

"Well, none of them better hit on you," he said half-teasing, half-serious.

"They're there for Callie, why would they want me?" I scoffed as if it was the most ridiculous thing I ever heard, because it was. Callie was prettier, sexier, and more fun- why would anyone want me over her? I was still surprised that after Brady met her that he still continued to talk to me instead of trying to get to know Callie.

"Sophia, you're beautiful, perfect," he paused. "You shouldn't think so lowly of yourself. Any guy in their right mind would want to be with you," he said with such sincerity in his voice I could almost feel the tears starting in my eyes.

When he said things like that, it made me want to be with him forever. I wish I could give him forever, but that wasn't something I could promise anyone. I know people say that no one is promised tomorrow, which is true, but for the most part, people my age are expected to be around for quite awhile. Although my heart condition hadn't gotten worse, it was only a matter of time before it would. My medication couldn't cure me; it was just buying me time.

"You're really sweet, Brady," I said, smiling.

We pulled into his driveway, and I knew our sweet conversations were over for now. The thought of him being a wolf slipped to the back of my mind on the ride here, but it was being thrown back at my face now.

His house was smaller, but unlike mine, looked like a home. Inside, there were pictures everywhere; most of them of his adorable little sister, but there were some of the rest of the family too.

"I like your house," I said as I followed him over to his couch and plopped down next to him.

"Thanks. Sorry it's not as great as yours, but it works," he said, and I shrugged. I could care less if he lived in a homeless shelter, he would still be Brady.

"How did it happen? Why are you a uh...you know, wolf?" I said, and the words just didn't feel right coming out of my mouth because this was just not normal.

"When I was thirteen, me and Collin starting just growing and growing,"he paused, "I always felt sick and irritated; the smallest thing, like my sister crying, would just make me snap and one day, I just phased. I phased, like how Paul did today. It wasn't something I could have controlled, it was just in my genes," he explained, still not answering all of my questions.

"But why? There had to have been a reason for you to phase," I said, nervously awaiting the answer.

"We have to protect La Push from vampires," he said calmly, like it was a normal everyday thing.

I felt my eye go as wide as dinner plates, "From what?" I asked. He could _not_ have just said vampires.

"Vampires," he paused, "You don't have to be scared, nothing will ever happen to you," he promised firmly, but that didn't really help much. I had just been told that vampires and werewolves roamed the area less than fifteen minutes from my house.

"Do...do they kill a lot? Of people" I asked nervously. I was never sleeping in my house alone again!

"How long did you live in Seattle before moving here?" he asked, and I had no idea how this was relevant to my questions.

"My whole life," I paused, "Why?"

"Do you remember all those missing people a couple years ago?" he asked, and a horrible realization settled across my mind.

It was all over the T.V. and newspaper headlines for months, young adults and teenagers going missing with literally no clues. They had found bodies drained of all blood, and no one could understand how. I was in the hospital during most of the time, stuck watching the news and reading newspapers nurses would bring me, so I knew more about the 'serial killer' than most did. Vampires: the explanation to everything, but no one would ever guess that. How many cold case murders were at the hands of vampires?

"How is this kept such a secret?" I had never had any suspicions of a supernatural world, and I had always been pretty observant.

"Sophia, you can't go around telling the world there are vampires. Do you know how fucked up things would get?"

"Then why are you telling me this?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Why was I one of the 'privileged' ones to learn of this secret world?

"There is another part about wolves, the part that involves you. There is thing called imprinting. It's when wolves find their soul mate," he explained. "Our imprint is everything to us, and we'd do anything for them," he said

"And?" I said cutting him off. I didn't understand how this had anything to do with me.

"You're my imprint," he said quickly.

To some girls, that might have been a dream come true, to be in some magically love story and be tied to someone forever, but for me, it was everything I didn't want. I wanted Brady to want me because he was attractive to me, not because some mythical force picked me out for his future wife. I was jealous; he had willingly chosen to be with Alex, but he was only with me because he had to be. It hurt with such intensity that I didn't know was possible. It made sense now: he really didn't want me, he was forced to be with me.

"So if you wouldn't have imprinted or whatever on me, you wouldn't have had any interest in me, right?" I asked, feeling like my heart was being stepped on repeatedly.

He was too good to be true; I had known that all long. He was too perfect for there not to be some sort of catch. I was just starting to have the slightest hope though, that maybe I could just get one wonderful thing out of my life.

He shook his head and cupped my face gently, "No! Sophia, it's not like that. We're meant to be together. Imprinting is just something that pointed you out to me," he said softly.

"You wouldn't want someone like me, if you could choose. You'd want a girl like Alex," I replied stubbornly, even though with his lips so close to mine, I still wanted to kiss him.

Why would I be someone's soul mate anyway? A word like soul mate binds with the word forever and God knows, I don't have anywhere near to forever. Why would destiny torture Brady with me as a soul mate?

"That's not true. Do you understand how glad I am that I found you?" he asked. "Don't cry, Sophia," he whispered, wiping away the few tears I couldn't control.

"You could have done better," I muttered more to myself than him.

"Nah, I think I got the best," he said with a bright smile that made me smile slightly.

I relaxed a little bit more and leaned my head against his shoulder. I didn't like this at all. The thought of him only being with me because he had to made my confidence plummet dramatically, but it wasn't his fault.

"Do you ever miss being normal?" I asked randomly, and he chuckled.

He wrapped his warm arm around me. "Kind of forgot what it was like."

"Is that why you're so hot? Because you're a...wolf?" I asked. I was never going to get use to this.

"Well, I like to think I'm just naturally good looking," he rambled on, teasing me and lightening the tense atmosphere.

I rolled my eyes. "You know what I meant, Mr. Conceited,"

"Yeah, it's a wolf thing," Brady said in such a nonchalant manner I had to laugh.

We needed a less serious conversation, so he showed me around his house. I loved it; it was so warm and cozy, just like Emily's. Pictures clung to the brightly colored walls, and the kitchen was a gallery of Hope's drawings. He led me up the stairs to his room, holding my hand the whole time.

He opened the door and I gasped, "Brady! Do you even know what color your carpet is?" I asked with a laugh, and he pretended as if he didn't know. His whole closet had to be on the floor, and I truly didn't want to know how old the bag of chips in the corner was.

"Messy room, it's a wolf thing too," he joked.

"Oh, now you're just lying to me!" I exclaimed and hopped up on his bed. I looked over at the nightstand next to the bed and reached over a grabbed a small framed picture off it.

The picture had to have been a few years old because Brady looked remarkable younger, and Hope was just a tiny toddler. Their small family looked so carefree and happy; I hoped he realized how lucky he was.

"You're family seems great," I said longingly, as I placed the picture back down.

I hadn't ever understood how two cold hearted people could've possibly created me. I silently wondered whom I inherited the trait to care from. Sometimes, I had wished I was like my parents, cold and emotionless, because then their absences and horrible parenting wouldn't have affected me like it did.

"I'll always be there for _you_,"he promised sweetly. It was a promise most girls would die to hear, but it made me wince.

_But, I'll leave you. _

_A/N: Happy holidays everyone!_


	7. I'm Yours

**A/N: Twilightdreamer.22 helped me a lot with Brady's POV and I wouldn't have been able to get this chapter out without her! Thanks to my beta, Skye Evans too. Check out both their stories! Sorry about the wait, review!**

**Brady's POV**

"I'll always be there for you," I promised, and I swore I saw her wince. She looked down into her lap, avoiding eye contact, and I wondered what she could possibly be thinking about. Minutes passed, and I noticed a small tear falling down her cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb, before turning her head gently towards me.

"What's wrong?" I asked her. She turned them away from me, looking to the side. She looked so heartbroken; it made my stomach turn, and my heart felt like it was coming up my throat.

"Sophia, whatever it is, you can tell me," I reassured her.

She still didn't look up. I let go of her beautiful face and sighed. I focused my eyes back on the T.V. and then stopped to steal a glance at her. Our eyes connected for a split second before she quickly turned away.

"Sophia, please tell me what's wrong," I begged her; it was torture not being able to comfort her. She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"It's nothing, I'm sorry for worrying you," she said with a small smile for her apology.

I gently pulled her into my lap. She leaned her head on my chest, and I buried my head into her hair, smelling the sweet vanilla and lavender scent that flowed off her. We might have stayed like this longer, but my stomach growled which caused Sophia to giggle. She was always so adorable.

I got up, and she followed. We walked to the kitchen, hand-in-hand. We walked in silence, her stomach growling once, making her blush. When we got to my small yellow kitchen, I went to the fridge, and Sophia sat down on the chair at the breakfast nook.

Looking in the fridge, I noticed we barely had anything to eat, besides some left-overs and condiments. There was nothing to make real meal with. I brought my head out of the fridge and looked at Sophia.

"We don't have much… Delivery?" I asked. I felt bad that I couldn't make anything for her; she always cooked when we were at her house. I would have to ask mom to pick some more food up.

"Pizza?"

She nodded with a smile, her face returning to its normal color after her crying. I had the number memorized from hanging out with Jake, and Sophia noticed too because I heard her laugh softly behind me.

After I ordered the pizza, Sophia and I decided a movie to watch a movie while we waited. She was in the mood for a scary movie, which I was perfectly all right with because scary movies resulted in her jumping up every five seconds and burying her face in my chest at every slightly scary scene.

I put the DVD in as she sat on the couch, wrapped up in the brown blanket that had been previously on the back of the couch. She sat up as I sat down, and then she laid back down, her head leaning on my arm.

The movie started dramatically, a girl walking alone in the dark forest. I wasn't paying attention; I was left with my thoughts. Did I say something to make Sophia cry? I hoped not. She said it was nothing, but then, why was she crying in the first place?

I looked down at her; her eyes were glued to the screen. She jumped up at a scene and then laughed at herself, causing me to smile. I loved it when she laughed.

I looked up at the screen for a few minutes and noticed that the scene had cut to a couple kissing in a dark room. They looked happy; did Sophia and I look like that? We weren't officially a couple, but we were close enough. I couldn't wait to be able to call her my girlfriend.

After the delivery guy came with the pizza, we sat on the couch and ate, the movie still playing. Sophia seemed to like the movie. We didn't talk much during it, and if I asked a question she would "Shhh" me.

I ate most of the pizza. Afterward, even though I was still hungry, I didn't say anything as we watched the last ten minutes of the movie.

"No wonder you have no food!" she said with a laugh.

The movie had a dramatic ending, something about the main character belonging to some demonic force and her liking it that way. The movie reminded me of my life; I had previously thought being a werewolf ruined my life, but seeing as it led me to Sophia and becoming the handsome man that I am today, I can no longer complain.

A knock came from the door that made both of our heads turn in the direction of the sound. She sighed and sat up which made me chuckle.

I didn't know who could possibly be here. None of the guys would come over because they knew I was talking to Sophia, and even if they did, they would just walk straight in.

So many questions all filled in my mind, causing me to freeze where I stood. As I got closer to the door, my nose picked up on a familiar bubble gum and hair spray scent. I was hoping I was wrong, but when I opened the door, I couldn't exactly be surprised by who was standing there.

She was standing in there in what I once would have thought was a sexy outfit. She had a pair of dark jeans on so tight they looked as if they were painted onto her skin and a red tube top with a black coat over it. Her long blonde hair was tied up, and she was glaring at me as soon as I opened the door.

I was half-tempted to close the door back on her. She couldn't be here- it just wasn't right. What was Sophia going to think about this? Normally, ex-girlfriends don't just show up uninvited at your house. Then again, Alex was never exactly normal.

"Stealing cars now? Well, I guess that's cool," she said with a smirk in reference to Sophia's Mustang in the driveway.

I didn't say anything; I just stared at her and hoped that maybe she would disappear.

"Well, aren't you going to invite me in?"

**Sophia's POV**

I was stupid- the exact definition of stupid. I had been doing such a good job at hiding that there was anything irregular about me, and now, I had gone and blown it. He didn't know exactly what was wrong with me, but he knew something was. I knew I had to tell him- it was wrong to keep my secret from him for much longer. But there wasn't any easy way to explain to someone that you have a possibly fatal disease, especially to someone who had just informed you that you're their supernatural soul mate. How would he take it when I did tell him? I didn't want nor need to be treated like a breakable doll. Then again, I didn't even know if he would still want to be with me once he knew. Yes, I was his imprint, but maybe the imprint magic would disappear once he found out about my condition and realized I wasn't suitable for a soul mate.

I was trying to think positive, I really was. I had lived with my heart condition all my life; it wasn't like I was going to die tomorrow. My doctor, Dr. Cullen, had told me my heart was steady for someone with my condition, and I had time to consider my options. My options were things like heart transplants, things that no sixteen year old should ever have to consider.

My health was touch-and-go though, that's how it always has been. I could be perfectly fine one day and be in the hospital the next.

A knock came from the door, and we moved our heads in sync towards the sound. I sighed long and dramatically while Brady kissed my cheek and went to open the door. I looked over and watched his body stiffen as he opened the door.

I couldn't make out exactly what whoever was outside the door was saying over the loud T.V.

"Well, aren't you going to invite me in?"

It was a girl that didn't sound much older than I. I didn't recognize the voice to be one of the girls I met at Emily's; maybe it was his neighbor or a relative.

"I have company," he said nervously.

"Good, I like meeting people," she said and pushed past Brady and into the living room.

Any thoughts I had of her being related to Brady or being a neighbor disappeared when I saw her. She had long bleach-blonde hair and a tan that she most defiantly didn't acquire from being Indian. I couldn't explain the level of insecurity I felt being in the same room as her. I was hoping, more like praying, Brady had never been with her because I was sure I'd die from a complete lack of self-esteem if he had.

"Who's this, Bray?" she said and hadn't realized until now just how obnoxiously high and annoying her voice was.

Bray. I didn't even have a nick name for him, but this girl did. I felt my whole body swell with jealousy, and I'm not the jealous type.

"Sophia," he said, looking between the both of us.

"Oh, I'm Alex," she said with a vindictive smile.

So she was Alex, his wild and apparently gorgeous ex-girlfriend. I wanted to scream just being anywhere near her. She was tall and thin like a model while I was petite and curvy. She looked like a lingerie model, and I was just plain Sophia.

"You know what's weird? You always said you never liked brunettes," she said effectively destroying the small amount of confidence I had with Brady.

Brady didn't deny it. "Alex, why are you here?" he asked, looking just as confused as I felt.

She shrugged and twisted a piece of her perfectly curled hair. "I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by since you like to ignore my calls now," she replied and rolled her eyes.

"I'm busy," Brady said shortly. I smiled to myself; at least he didn't seem interested in her.

"With her?" she said as if I were some disgusting disease. I wanted to punch her, and I hadn't had the desire to hit someone since my last stay in the hospital where some stupid nurse kept messing up my IV.

"Yes, he's obviously with me," I said and glared in her direction.

She smirked and looked me up and down,."I highly doubt a girl like you could keep him that busy for long."

The meaning in her words hit me as fast as lighting strikes. I had highly doubted Brady was a virgin; he was a nice guy, and a very attractive one at that. I had previously thought that he not being a virgin wouldn't bother me, but looking at him and Alex together, knowing that they had had sex before, made me want to cry.

Oh, the imprint magic royally ripped him off with giving him me for a soul mate. A virgin brunette with a heart condition- everything he probably didn't want.

"Stop it, Alex," he hissed at her.

"What, is your new thing for this month the innocent type? You know that's not like you at all," she said, with her hands on her hips.

This really got me thinking: who was Brady before he met me? He was always so sweet and gentle with me, but I had this feeling he hadn't been that way with Alex. Alex was what he wanted; she was who he chose to be with.

"It's over- it's been over," he said.

She rolled her stupid blue eyes. "You'll come back, you always come back!" she yelled and grabbed her keys out of her purse. "Have fun with this little girl," she said before slamming the door behind her, leaving us, but not taking the awkwardness she brought back with her.

I looked at Brady with a look of disgust. How could he have dated a girl with such little class? He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. I felt like if I didn't get this out now, I was going to explode.

"I'm sorry I can't be like that, like the girls you actually want," I said and stood up, grabbing my purse and keys off the coffee table.

"Don't be like that, Sophia," he said pleadingly.

"Like what, Bray?" I said mimicking Alex.

"Like this," he paused and grabbed my waist. I hate to admit that I wasn't strong enough to push him off. "I'd take everything back with her if I could."

"When did you break up?" I asked. I don't know why I needed to know, but I did. It had to have been recent if she felt comfortable enough to stop over uninvited.

He looked down. "A week before I met you."

That was seven days. Seven short days before I met him he was hugging, kissing, and doing only God knows what else with her. It was irrational for me to be as jealous as I was, but I couldn't help it. I didn't want anyone else to have him, ever.

"Did you love her?" I asked, although I didn't know why I was asking questions when the answers could absolutely break my heart in two.

Brady shook his head. "I thought I did at the time, but really, no, I didn't," he told me sincerely.

"You don't ever wish she was here instead of me?" I asked, yet another dangerous question.

"No! Sophia, don't think like that," Brady said and kissed my forehead.

"Promise me you don't want her," I said, while looking into his warm eyes. I loved his eyes, with every glance I found myself falling more and more for him.

"I promise, I'm yours," he said. His words were so simple, but they made me feel such a level of joy I hadn't known was previously possible.


	8. Love, vampires, and an angry best friend

**A/N: Not many people voted on the poll I have up but the most votes for favorite imprint is Sophia which surprises me because I had no outline for how Sophia would be at all. Skye Evans betad! Review(:**

**Sophia POV**

"You are every reason, every hope, & every dream I've ever had, and no matter what happens to us in the future, every day we were together was the greatest day in my life"- Unknown

I was in love, completely irrevocably in love with Brady Brooks. I had never felt this way before, and to be honest, I never wanted to feel anything but this ever again. It was scary in a way, caring so much about someone; I was terrified that he was going to change his mind about me. With every kiss and hug he gave me, my worries seemed to disappear.

Callie, miraculously, seemed to be falling in love too. I hadn't been home much, but whenever I was, Tyler had been here with Callie. It was the week before Christmas now, meaning that Callie had kept Tyler around for a month. This was the longest she had stayed interested in a guy in a long time

Tyler was odd. He claimed to be an emancipated teen from New York who lived in Seattle for a few months before the price of living in the city became too much to pay, and he moved to Forks. I wasn't sure if he was lying or not, and I tried not to think too much of it. Callie was a good judge of character, so I trusted her judgment. She seemed the happiest she had been in a long time and that was enough for me.

I placed down my curling iron and ran to my closet. I quickly grabbed a pink and black lace top and pair of dark jeans. Brady was picking me up so I could help him pick out a Christmas present for Hope and his Mom. His winter break had started today, and I couldn't wait to have a week of school off to spend with him.

I was slipping on my jeans when I heard my phone ringing. I shuffled through my purse and pulled my phone out. I smiled at the Caller ID as it clearly read 'Brady'.

"I'm here," his husky voice said through the receiver.

"Do you want to come in really quick before we leave?" I asked. Callie had been asking for me to bring him, the only time she had really seen him was at the mall when we first met.

"Front door?" he asked, and I nodded even though he couldn't see me.

"That works," I said as he hung up.

I grabbed my pill bottle and popped two in mouth before shoving them away.

I walked into the hallway and leaned over the balcony that is over top of the living room."Brady's coming in, so have some clothes on!" I shouted and heard Callie's loud laugh from beneath me.

I walked down the stairs with the biggest smile on my face. Happy and smiling was how I always when I was about to see Brady. It was such an amazing feeling that I hoped would never dull or burn out. Callie and Tyler were sitting on the couch watching a movie, although I was almost positive neither of them had any idea what the movie was about. The door bell rang, and I practically ran to get it.

"You could have just walked in," I told Brady as I opened the door.

He grinned and leaned down to peck me on the lips. "You look gorgeous," he mumbled into my lips.

"You too!" I teased, and he chuckled as he walked through the threshold.

"Who's here?" Brady asked, his mood had completely changed and his jaw was slightly tightened.

"Just Callie and Tyler," I replied and looked at him skeptically. Why would he be angry if they were here? He had told me he wanted to meet them.

We walked into the living room, and Brady's expression changed into an expression of pure hatred. The minute his eyes focused on Tyler, he pulled me closer to him and held my waist so tight that I don't think it would have been possible for me to walk away from him. I know that it was part of his instincts to be protective, but Tyler wasn't posing a threat.

"This is Brady, that's Callie and Tyler," I said while giving a little nod in their direction as I said their names.

"Nice to meet you, Callie," he said through gritted teeth. I glared at him; who did he think he was, being so rude?

"It's, uh, nice to meet you too," Callie said awkwardly as Tyler put his arm around her.

"Sophia, can I talk to you, alone?" he asked, and I nodded. I threw an apologetic look at both Callie and Tyler before being dragged up the stairs by Brady. By the time we reached my bedroom, my arm was aching from the death grip Brady had on it.

"Stop, you're hurting me!" I yelled at him, and he dropped my arm immediately. There were red finger print marks imprinted onto my arm.

"I'm so sorry, Sophia. I didn't mean it, I swear," he said with big red-rimmed eyes as he gingerly grabbed my arm to make sure it was okay. He looked absolutely horrified as he looked at the scarlet marks across my arm. I pulled my arm away and folded my arms over my chest; I wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily.

"How could you be so rude to her? She's my family, my best friend," I paused. "I never would have acted that way in front of your friends," I finished.

"I don't have anything against _her_!"

I rolled my eyes, "Then why are you acting like this?" I asked him, my feeling of anger now being replaced by disappointment.

Callie was the only true family I had. I could care less what my parents would think of Brady, but I wanted Callie to like him. She was just starting to finally believe Brady wasn't affiliated with some gang, but if he continued to have this attitude towards her, she'd hate him again.

"He's a vampire," Brady hissed, and I stared at him with wide eyes.

"What did you just say?"

I had to have misheard him; I wouldn't let a vampire in my house. I was sure I'd never met a vampire, but I think I would be able to tell the difference from the living and the nonliving. Tyler was weird, but he could not possibly be a vampire.

"Tyler is a vampire- a half vampire," Brady said, and I felt like I was going to faint. First of all, what was the other half of a vampire? Vampires killed people and drank blood, according to Brady, and Tyler had spent plenty of times with both me and Callie without anything happening. It didn't make sense, but I knew Brady wouldn't lie to me.

"A half-vampire?" I questioned, "Oh my god, a vampire knows where I live," I said as I finally realized the full situation.

I opened up my bedroom door, and Brady followed me in. I kept my pills permanently hidden now, like they were some dirty little secret.

"He can't be here. I'm not letting you put yourself in danger like that," Brady said, and I nodded even though I didn't know how I was going to make that happen.

"There is a vampire on my couch with my cousin. I think I'm going to pass out," I said as I paced back and forth in my room. How was I going to fix this? She liked Tyler- a lot. I couldn't just ban him from the house, and she'd still see him even if I did.

"Please don't pass out," Brady begged and I put my head in my hands.

"They're always alone, "I whispered. "He could have killed her, Brady. I wouldn't have even known," I cried as the tears started in my eyes. I didn't want to know about this supernaturally fucked up world anymore.

"Promise me you won't let him here anymore," he pleaded and cupped my face with his warm hands. "Please, I can't let anything happen to you," he said and wiped the single tear with his thumb.

"What I'm I suppose to tell her?" I murmured. "She'll still want to see him; she has him here every day,"

"Make up something; tell her I told you something about him," he said.

"I'm not leaving her," I said forcefully. Tyler had probably killed people before, a thought that gave me the chills. I had left her here alone so many times, if only I'd known.

"I don't care," Brady said and pulled me closer to him by my hips.

I leaned in and kissed his pouty lips. "I missed you," I mumbled. It may have seemed cheesy but I did miss him. I missed him every second he was away from me.

"Me too, I only have patrol twice this week so I'll be able to see you as much as you want," he said sweetly.

I rested my head on his shoulder and breathed in his clean scent. He lifted my head and kissed me full on the lips. His warm lips smothered mine and I gently bit down on his thick bottom lip. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and Brady pushed me down onto the bed. I laughed softly, taking my lips off of his for just a moment.

He looked down at me with a look of affection I'd never be able to get use to. "You're so fucking beautiful, Sophia," he said softly and rubbed my cheek with his thumb.

Beautiful was such a strong word and I loved when he called me it. It never failed to put a smile on my face. I didn't agree with him, beautiful was a word much too strong to describe me, but I wasn't going to object.

I smiled so wide my cheeks hurt and pulled him back down to me by the collar of his white t shirt. His finger tips caressed my sides from underneath my thin shirt while his sweet tongue explored my mouth. The feeling of being with Brady was pure ecstasy; there never would nor could be anything better than this.

My bedroom door flew open, and Callie cleared her throat, standing in the door with a menacing look on her face and hands on her hips. I pulled my lips off Brady with a sigh, and he sat up next to me, resting his back up against my bed frame.

"You should lock your door. If I ever walk in on my baby cousin having sex, I'll be scarred for life," she said dramatically.

I laughed. "You're only like one month older than me," I replied, avoiding a conversation that had anything to do with sex in the presence of Brady.

"Is Tyler still here?" I asked, changing the subject completely.

"He left- he doesn't like rude people," she said and glared in Brady's direction.

Brady put his hands up in defense. "I just don't like him," he said simply, and I put my head in my hands. I wished I had warned him before how pointless it was to fight with Callie; she never quit.

Callie raised her arched eyebrow. "I don't really like you much either, but I deal with it," she said bluntly, and I wished the ground would just swallow me.

"What did I ever do to you?" Brady exclaimed.

"Nothing to me, but I've heard all about you. I've been in Forks my whole life unlike Sophia," she paused, "and if you ever do anything to Sophia like you've done to girls in the past, your little gang won't even be able to help you with dealing with me," she said and walked away before Brady could even open his mouth to respond.

His past terrified me. I didn't want to know about the long list of beautiful girls he had been with before he met me. He had been a party animal, information I didn't necessary want to hear, but Callie offered without asking. According to Callie, Alex and he were famously known for getting completely wasted together. Was this the person that would happily hold my hand if I was lying in a hospital bed? I hoped so because I didn't want to be with anyone but him now.

"Well, she's opinionated," Brady said staring at the spot where she had been previously standing.

"That's an understatement," I said with a laugh, and he smiled at me.

When we were like this, talking and laughing, all my doubts about us disappeared. They stayed in the back of my mind though, popping and effectively ruining my mood. I wished that Brady didn't have a past. I wanted to be first and last girl he'd ever cared about, but this wasn't a perfect world, and I couldn't change his past. I could change his future though, although I didn't know how bright I would make anyone's future. But I could try my best.

"You're happy, right?" I asked him looking directly into his dark warm eyes.

"You have no idea," he said with such a loving smile; I wanted to squeal and jump up and down like a little child.

I pecked his lips, a happiness radiating through my body that I hoped would never die away. I'd never been able to make anyone happy. I was a disappointment in my parent's eyes, never being able to be the dream daughter they had expected. Every boyfriend I had ever had before had seen me as more of a stress than a gift. It had eaten me up that I could never live up to the expectations of those around me, but it wasn't going to anymore.

I was the one responsible for that smile on his face, not Alex or any other girl he had ever been with. It was an amazing feel knowing that I was responsible for someone's happiness, that I had the ability to put a smile on someone's face, especially someone as amazing as Brady.

He pulled me down on top of him and I laughed as my tiny body rested on his. I held his face with my hands and kissed him with everything I could. I wanted this moment to last forever, just us wrapped up in each other and not have to deal with things like crazy exes and medical problems.

I was in love, so in love.


	9. Not so welcomed home

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for the amazing reviews! I know everyone is anixous for Sophia to tell Brady and I'm just as anxious to write it, but it's coming, very soon, I promise! I have a new beta, Mercury-Serenity and everyone should check out her stories because, they're great! Twilightdreamer.22 wrote pretty much the whole first half of this chapter, so make sure you give her credit it too! Review(:**

**Brady's POV**

"Hey!" I yelled as I plopped back onto her bed. I had gone to the bathroom and in that one minute she had apparently fallen asleep.

Her big almond eyes were closed and her messy, which I was responsible for, curly hair was sprawled out all around her. I stared at her, waiting for her to make the slightest movement and when she didn't I sighed, maybe she really was sleeping. She sure did have a weird sleeping schedule.

"Boo!" Sophia yelled and laughed, I fell for it and I jumped up a little to her satisfaction. "I scared you," she teased proudly with a satisfied grin on her cute face.

I laughed at her and then shook my head at her with an evil grin.

_Well, if that's how she wants to play,_ I thought.

I spun around and started to tickle her, starting from her sides and working my way up. She squirmed, attempting to get away from my reach as she laughed until she ran out of breath.

"Please," she laughed, pressing her tiny hands to my chest. "Please, stop!" I stopped for a second and pretended to think about it.

"How much do you want me to stop?" I asked with my hands ready to start again.

Her eyes got wider and she readjusted herself, sitting Indian style on the bed. She spread out her arms as far as they would go and smiled brightly at me.

"About this much," she exclaimed and I laughed, it was like we were kids again.

I moved my hands up to her face and ran my thumb over her cheek bones. "That's quite a bit, Sophia," I said about an inch away from her perfect lips.

"Yeah, it is," She agreed closing the gap between us.

Maybe it was the imprint or the fact I cared about her with such an intensity I didn't know was possibly that caused the ecstatic feeling every time I held her or we kissed. I could never kiss another girl again, not that I would want to, but it would never add up to the way it felt like to be with Sophia.

Our lips stayed connected, neither of us wanting to pull away. She was so delicate, not turning a simple kiss into something much more, but regardless, living my body with a tingly feeling I'd never experienced before.

With Alex every time I touched her she changed it into something sexual, something that I had previously enjoyed a lot, but now that I had Sophia, I appreciated that she didn't do the same. I could kiss her and hold her without it always turning into something else. Maybe imprinting had destroyed my manhood, but I didn't need to be having sex with her every second of the day to feel complete.

Her phone rang, but we didn't pay any attention to it. I forgot about it until it started ringing again. Whoever was trying to get a hold of her must have really wanted to talk to her, because they were phoning back every time she didn't pick.

She pulled away and I kissed the tip of her nose before she stood up and went to find her phone. I laid my back against her pillows and watched her search around the room for her phone. It stopped ringing so she couldn't follow the sound to locate it. As soon as she turned around to walk back over to me, it rang again, making both of us laugh.

"Dresser?" I guessed as she dug through her purse.

She looked up at me and nodded and walked over to her dresser when she found it.

"Hello?" she answered and walked back over to me. She sat down next to me and rested her head on my chest and I wrapped my arm around her small shoulders.

The person on the other end had an irritating voice; her voice was too high and squeaky. The lady was arguing with someone in the background, something about driving too fast. I could only hear snippets of what she was saying because she wasn't talking directly into the phone.

Sophia rolled her eyes while I started to rub circles on her back and draw invisible pictures to keep her relaxed; it always seemed to work.

The galling lady started to ask her so many questions so fast I couldn't understand any of it and neither did Sophia.

"Slow down, please," Sophia asked overly polite and I smiled at her, her little attitude was cute as long as it wasn't directed towards me.

"Have you been taking your pills, Sophia? You know I'll count them when I get home if you're not responsibly enough," the woman asked and I stared at Sophia with a confused expression. What pills were she talking about, her sleeping pills?

"Of course, I have been. Stop it, Mom!" she yelled into the phone. She was talking to her mom?

I didn't know a lot about her parents, she didn't offer too much information about them. They had to be either very trusting or very irresponsible to leave a 16 year old girl in a huge mansion, alone.

Sophia went on with the conversation and I didn't really pay attention. She finally hung up after about five minutes of talking and threw her phone down angrily.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, a look of absolutely frustration etched over her face.

"My parents are coming home in an hour," she said and from that response, I evaluated from that she must not like her parents much.

"Do you want me to leave?" I asked in a sad tone, I hated leaving. If it was up to me, I'd spend every second of every day with her.

"No, not at all, I was going to ask if it wanted to stay and meet them," she asked hopefully. "They're not exactly friendly though," she warned seriously.

I laughed. "I would love to meet them."

She scoffed. "You'll be taking that back soon,"

"What is it?"

"Dinner, they are going to be worse than usually because they just came from the air…" I cut her off.

"Okay," I paused rubbing my hands together. "Let's make some food," I replied and she smiled.

We made our way to her kitchen and she grabbed all the ingredients necessary which filled up the whole counter.

"So, Chef Sophia, what's the meal plan for tonight?" I asked and leaned against the counter.

"My famous spaghetti and some leftover spaghetti sauce," she said and I rubbed my stomach theatrically.

"Sound's delicious; I didn't know that you could cook." I hated comparing Sophia to Alex, but Sophia was just so much better than Alex in every way. Alex couldn't even cook macaroni and cheese without burning it.

She laughed. "I live alone most of the time, I have to know how to cook," she said and my heart sunk at the idea of her being alone in this big house.

Once the water started boiling I poured the noodles in, too afraid she'd burn herself. She ran into her basement to grab a bottle of wine for her parents. She walked back into the kitchen with a bottle of expensive looking wine in her hand and a beer in the other.

"Callie said you use to drink a lot when you were with Alex, so here," she said pushing the beer towards me.

It was crazy the how much information Callie could find out about me and the level of accuracy in most of it. I didn't want Sophia to know about the person I use to be, I was ashamed of whom I'd been before I met her. My wild and womanizing ways were in the past now but every time she brought up my past, I could sense the insecurities rolling off her. She had nothing to worry about; I'd never want to be with anyone but her ever again.

"I'm not like that anymore, Sophia." I said and pushed the beer back towards her. She raised her eyebrow and looked at, seemingly asking me with her eyes, are you sure, before taking the beer and putting it in the fridge.

"You know, not trying to make you mad or anything, but Tyler ate dinner here and I don't cook with blood." Sophia said seriously.

"That's because he's half human," I replied bitterly. I couldn't believe there had been a fucking leech in her house!

"Vampires and humans have sex?" she whispered, as if it was some secret she wasn't allowed to say out loud.

"Unfortunately so," I replied, the thought of vampire sex left a bitter taste in my mouth.

A timer went off and she ran over to turn the stove off. She drained the noodles and then carried the pot of strained spaghetti back over to the stove.

"Here, try one," she said and pushed a piece of spaghetti towards my mouth. I shook my head playfully at her and gave her thumbs up for the spaghetti. She put the sauce in the microwave and then turned back to look at me.

"We make a good team," she said as if she had read my mind.

"I thought so too," I kissed the top of her head and she looked up at me, her beautiful eyes gazing into mine.

She started to clean her kitchen and I followed after her. She stood on her tip toes to grab four dinner plates out of the cabinet and then she placed them on her table. She wiped down the counter and then, when I wasn't looking she smacked my behind with the wash rag. I turned around and teasingly glared at her.

"What?" she said innocently, batting her thick eyelashes at me. It was in moments like this I couldn't believe she was actually mine.

I picked her up and she squealed, wrapping her legs around my torso and her little arms around my neck. We leaned in forward at the same time, our lips colliding perfectly together. Just as we started to deepen the kiss, someone loudly walked through the front door.

"We're home!" the female voice from the phone yelled; her voice even more irritating in person.

"What is that awful smell?" A deeper voice said; a man who I assumed was her father. He smelled like cigars and expensive wine.

I placed Sophia down and she made her way to the front door. I fixed my shirt and followed behind her.

"Sophia! Come get my bags!" Her mom yelled, oblivious to the fact that Sophia was already walking to the door.

"I'm right here," Sophia said in a low and bothered voice, I imagined she was rolling her eyes.

"Good, take these." Her dad said shoving the bags in her arms.

They didn't hug her or tell her they missed her; they just shoved their entire luggage in her arms and then turned to glare at me.

They were both older than my parents, looking to be about in their late thirties. Her mother had caked on makeup and was so tan, that she appeared orange. Her face looked so tight, I wasn't sure if the skin would allow her to smile. Sophia had her eyes, but Sophia's eyes were bright and lively while her mother's looked dark and cold. Her father was short and buff, with black hair and a few grey hairs peeking out. They both looked like the average rich and snobby couple, but I appreciate them, they had to have some good in them, Sophia was their daughter after all

"And who is this?" Her father said in a sour tone, this was going to be a very fun and enjoyable night.

"That's Brady, Brady this is my Mom, Alexis and my Dad, Nick," she said dismissively and I reached out to shake their hands, but neither one of them moved. I brought my hand back and looked at Sophia; she was glaring at them with all their bags in her tiny arms.

"Here, Sophia, let me take those," I said and grabbed the bags off of her.

"They hate everyone, including me, so don't feel bad," she whispered in my ear, standing on her tip toes and kissing my cheek.

"All I want to do is lay down, the airplane flight was awful! My feet hurt, and I feel like I'm going to throw up." Her mother ranted while walking towards her bedroom.

"The driver must have been going at least 90 down the highway," Nick said following after his wife.

"Sophia, get some air fresheners, whatever that smell is, it's giving me a headache." He complained and Sophia and I both looked at each other at the same time and tried not to laugh.

I looked back to Sophia. "Dinner for two?" I whispered in her ear, she laughed and we both followed after them; her parents' bags in hands.

*~*

"Do you think they're ever going to wake up?" I asked her as she rinsed off her dish and placed it on the counter.

"Hopefully not, but just in case, do you want to go somewhere?" she asked and I tried to think of a place we could go.

"Sure, I could take you to meet Seth. He's the only wolf you haven't met," I asked her and she nodded happily.

Seth didn't come around pack events much often. Besides, Leah, he was the only member of the pack not to imprint. I felt bad for him because out of all of us, Seth was the only one that truly desired to imprint. He was losing hope that he'd ever imprint, but I knew he would. There had to be a girl in this world that needed the overly happy person Seth was.

"I'm driving!" she squealed and grabbed her keys off the counter. I followed her up the stairs as she grabbed her black furry boots and her black plaid coat. We walked out of her door, hand in hand and we ran over to her car. It was snowing, leaving traces of snow on her hair and on her eyelashes. I kissed the tip of her nose as she started her car and pulled out of the driveway.

"Where I'm I going?" she asked and I gave her directions to Sue Clearwater's restaurant in Forks.

"Are you going to talk to Callie about Tyler?" I asked her, not trying to start a fight, but I just needed to know for my sake that he wasn't going to be anywhere near her. He might have been civilized, but I wasn't taking any chances when Sophia was involved.

"Yes, I told you I would," she said in a monotone voice.

"It's only for your safety." I replied. I didn't want her to think I was some controlling asshole that didn't want her associating with any other guys, but every being in my body screamed to protect her at all costs.

"I know, but she really likes him, Brady," she paused. "They can't all be bad," she finished and I gritted my teeth together.

"There is always a risk, I'm not letting you put yourself in one," I told her in a commanding way, regretting my tone as soon as the words left my mouth.

"Whatever you say, Brady," she said with a roll of her eyes.

We pulled into the restaurant and we both got out of the car and walked towards the entrance. I pulled her closer to me by her waist and she smiled up at me. I'd been forgiven. Seth was standing in the front, playing with his phone.

"Seth!" I yelled and he looked over at us. He looked up from his cell phone and followed the sound.

"This is Sophia, Sophia, this is Seth," I introduced and Sophia waved at him, he chuckled.

I loved showing her off. She was perfect and I was more than proud to show everyone she was mine. It wasn't just her looks, which were equally as perfect as her, but the goodness in Sophia was undeniable. You only had to talk to her for a few minutes to notice her overwhelming kindness. Seth's eyes lingered on her longer than I would have liked. She was beautiful, but she was mine, so there was no point for him to look.

"Nice to meet you," Seth said, still not taking his eyes off of her.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder possessively. "You too!" she said happily.

"What are you two doing here?" he asked.

"Avoiding my parents."

"Avoiding her parents."

We both said it at the simultaneously and then burst into laughter. Seth stared at us longingly and I wished Seth's imprint would just walk through the door right now, because he deserved this too.

"You're hiring?" Sophia said gesturing to a sign that read 'help wanted' in big red letters. Sophia had money and financially speaking, she didn't need a job, but it would be nice for her to have something to do while I was patrolling and meet some new people from around the area.

Seth nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure my mom would hire you," he said while handing her an application from underneath the counter. She scanned over it quickly with her eyes and then put it in her huge purse.

"Well, we'll let you get back to work." I said and grabbed Sophia's small cold hand.

"It was nice to meet you," Sophia said from my side and Seth nodded, but I saw him steal another glance at her.

We began to drive back to her house which was about ten minutes from the restaurant. The car ride was comfortable silence, Sophia softly singing the words to the songs on the radio. We pulled into her driveway and I looked at the clock in her car. It was 9:00 and though I usually stayed at her house until one or two in the morning, I didn't know how long she would want me to stay now that her parents were back at home.

"Should I leave?" I asked her and she shook her head, her messy curls swaying.

"Will you stay with me tonight?" she asked obviously nervous to hear my response.

I had never stayed at her house and it was ironic that now that her parents were actually home she was inviting me too. We hadn't had sex yet, something I wasn't going to push her into doing until she was ready, but just waking up with Sophia, was more than enough.

"Your parents are home," I objected even though I did want to stay with her.

"I don't care, they won't notice," she paused. "Please?" she said and with one look into her big sad eyes, I was done for.

"Alright, if they get mad, I'm blaming you," I teased her and she smiled brightly as she got out of the car.

We walked back into the house and her parents were nowhere in sight, hopefully still sleeping. I followed her upstairs and she shut and locked her bedroom door behind us. I sat down on her bed and she launched herself at me, landing on top of me and attacking my face with kisses. I laughed and switched our position so she was on the bottom.

"I love you," she whispered so softly my sensitive hearing almost didn't catch it.

It was everything I had ever wanted to hear. I had thrown around the word love with Alex, but never got this type of response from Alex saying it. She loved me, Sophia loved me, and I could never complain about anything in my life ever again.

"I love you too, Sophia."


	10. You can't keep a secret forever

**A/N: Mercury Serenity betad this chapter and without her, I wouldn't have been able to post again so soon. I think everyone will really like this chapter, review!**

**Sophia's POV**

My doctor was a vampire, I was sure of it. Brady hadn't exactly told me this, but I was beginning to put the pieces of this puzzle together all on my own. Brady had told me that vampires were cold, pale, and either had black, golden, or red eyes, depending on their diet. My doctor, Dr. Cullen, held all of those characteristics and even though he wore contacts that disguised his eyes to be brown, I could see the small rims of gold around them. If doctor's appointment didn't make me nervous enough, now I was afraid that my doctor was going to make me his dinner. If I didn't hate doctor's appointments enough, now I had this new huge supernaturally worry cast on my shoulders.

There was just something so eerie about doctor's appointments, for me anyways. A person, a doctor, whom I didn't even know personally, held my future at his hands. I had the constant overwhelming fear that I'd come here just for Dr. Cullen to say 'I'm sorry, but there is nothing we can do for you anymore'. It was my greatest fear to finally hear that I was incurable. When I was sitting in the waiting room alone, all these thoughts would surface, making me hate coming here alone even more. Callie usually came with me, but we weren't exactly on good speaking terms right now.

I had told her last night that I couldn't have Tyler coming around, a request from Brady. It was hard, one of the hardest things I ever had to do, because I hadn't seen Callie so happy in her whole life and I wanted to keep her happy. Callie didn't get attached to guys, not since her ex, but she was attached to Tyler. I wanted him to be the one that could finally make her forgot her past, but he couldn't be. He was a vampire; his intentions had to be off. She didn't care though, she just claimed Brady was controlling and didn't want me around any other guys before storming out of the house. It broke my heart, Callie is my best friend, and I prayed this wouldn't come completely between us.

"Sophia Laver, the doctor is ready for you," the blonde receptionist said looking up from her paper work. I walked down the hallway and into the familiar room. Dr. Cullen was waiting for me, a calming smile on his porcelain pale face.

"Hello Sophia, you look well," he said kindly as I sat down on one of the chairs. I knew I looked well, Brady had put a permanent smile on my face, but did my body feel well?

"I feel good," I said honestly, but my body always had a different story of its own.

"Well, that's good to hear," he said sincerely, "Let's talk, have you been taking your medication as prescribed?" he asked and I nodded, I took my medication religiously, even if it meant taking it in the bathroom so Brady wouldn't see.

"Any side effects?" he asked while writing something down on his clipboard.

I shook my head, "Just tired, nothing else," I replied and he nodded.

"That's very typical," he paused, "Your test are back from last week. Your heart is function normally for now, but you do know, congestive heart failure is a day to day thing. You could be fine today and in the hospital tomorrow," he said and I nodded, fighting back the tears I refused to let fall.

That was the worst thing about my condition, the inconsistency of it all. I couldn't be happy for good days because tomorrow could just be a bad day and set me all the way back to where I started from. Before I met Brady, as cliché as it might sound, I really wasn't that afraid to die. I was bored and lonely, watching life from the sidelines. After finding Brady though, I had something to live for. I was starting to believe that I was entitled to my happily ever after with Brady. Just thinking about him for a minute, made me miss him so much more. I wished he was here with me, but he couldn't be, not yet.

I was going to tell him everything after the holidays were over. Christmas had come and gone, leaving me with a promise bracelet with a silver heart wolf charm connected to it. I loved it, in the three days since I've had it, it hasn't left my wrist. I was going to tell him everything after New Years, starting the new year off with no more secrets.

"I know," I said emotionless, which was the best way to deal with my condition.

"Your body seems to be reacting well to your medication though, I'm optimistic for the options you will have," he said kindly and I hoped he wasn't just saying that because he felt bad for me.

"Thank you," I whispered and he smiled kindly before showing me where to go so I could get my blood taken, the usually procedure for all my check ups.

I left the doctor's office with a small band aid where the needle had poked my arm and walked out to my car. It was cold and icy out and I was trying extremely hard not to fall. Shockingly, I made it to my car in one piece. I checked my phone to see if Brady called me, but he hadn't. He was on an afternoon patrol with Collin and wasn't supposed to get off till seven, but I hoped he'd got off early. He obviously hadn't or he would have called, so it left me with nothing to do. I didn't want to go home yet, Mom and Dad were sure to get on my nerves if I did. I was thanking God that they were leaving for Europe again after New Years. I looked on my passenger seat and saw the application for Seth's mom's restaurant and I decided I could turn that in since I didn't have anything better to do. I pulled out of the parking lot and towards the restaurant.

I parked my car and the minute I stepped out; I slipped on a piece of ice and went flying back with a surprised scream. I landed on my butt with a thump and brushed the snow off my jeans.

"Are you okay?" Seth asked sweetly, appearing pretty much out of nowhere. He offered me his hand, which was warm just like Brady's, I stood up.

"Yeah, I was just kind of surprised, "I paused, "Thank god you're not Brady, he would want to take me to the emergency room right now," I said seriously and Seth chuckled.

Brady was very protective over me which was a mix of nice and overbearing. It was nice having someone that cared so much, I'd never been with anyone that truly cared enough to be protective over me. Brady never let me do anything that could possibly end in me injury myself. He had even tried to through my curling iron away last night because I burned myself with it on accident. His protectiveness worried me when it came to telling him about my heart condition. He was already so protective of me and he didn't even know anything was wrong, how would he act with me once he knew?

"That's how they all are," he paused, "I give you props though, no one ever thought Brady would be caged," he said teasingly and I started to follow him inside.

"It wasn't too hard," I said smiling brightly as we got inside. It was really busy inside, around 3, so people were coming in for lunch.

"Mom! Sophia has her application," Seth yelled and a middle aged woman looked up at the sound. She was pretty, defiantly Native American with dark skin and long raven black hair.

"Oh! Brady's girlfriend?" she asked and I nodded, "It's a pleasure to meet you, sweetie, I'm Sue Swan," she introduced.

"It's really nice to meet you," I said and handed her the application.

She looked over it quickly and then sat it down on the breakfast bar, "You're hired, can you start after New Years?" she asked and I nodded with a smile, that was easy.

"I can start whenever."

"Good, it will be nice to have someone in the know with me too," she said and I laughed, it would be nice to have someone to talk too about this world of werewolf and vampires.

Sue was kind, like the mother I always wanted and never would have. In the short conversation I had with her, she spoke so highly of her son Seth and daughter Leah. She was happy and I immediately felt comfortable around her.

I left the restaurant employed and in a good mood. I drove home and sighed in disappointment when I seen both my parent's BMWs in the driveway. I walked into the house and nearly gagged on the strong scent of cigar smoke. I walked into the kitchen and as I expected my dad was sitting at the kitchen table with a thick lit cigar up to his mouth. I glared at him menacingly before he looked up from his newspaper and met my eyes.

"What's your problem?" he asked as he took another puff out of the cigar, exhaling a large cloud of smoke at my face.

"You know, since your daughter has a heart condition and is not supposed to be around smoke, you could smoke outside," I said angrily while grabbing a glass out of the cupboard and filled it up with water.

"I didn't know you were coming home," he said and forcefully put the cigar out in the ash tray, "Where's that Brant boy, shouldn't he be taking you out?" he asked and I rolled my eyes.

"His name is Brady and he's at work," I said before storming up into my room before he could reply.

I looked at the clock in my room and groaned when it only read 4:30. I had over three hours before Brady got off patrol and came over. I hated being away from him and I was sure I'd die off boredom waiting for him. I snuggled under my big green comforter, although it was nothing compared to the warmth Brady gave me and tried to fall asleep.

I must have fell asleep because when I opened my eyes back up, it was 7:30. I stretched and rubbed my eyes, probably messing up all of my makeup in the process. I peeked out the window next to my bed and noticed that my father's car was gone, which hopefully meant that both of them had gone out.

"Mom? Dad?" I yelled over the balcony and heard nothing in return besides my echo.

I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen and was happy to realize that I was home alone. I started looking through the kitchen for something to make for dinner. Brady was always hungry when he got off patrol and he loved my cooking, so I decided to start cooking dinner for us. I grabbed a can of sauce and noodles so I could start making lasagna. Cooking alone wasn't a lot of fun, it was much better with Brady or Callie's help, but it kept me from glance at the door every two seconds waiting for Brady.

It was hard to believe the change impacted on my life due to Brady. I had only met him a month ago, but now, I could honestly say I wouldn't know how to live without him. No one in my life could make me feel the way Brady does, completely loved. I wasn't extremely religious, but I thanked God for giving me him. Maybe it was God's way of apologizing for cursing me with this disease, to give me Brady, which made life so much more livable.

I had just finished putting the lasagna in the oven when I heard the front door open. I smiled widely hoping it was Brady and not my parents. I walked up to the door, a smile plastered on my face when I seen it was Brady. I went to hug him but something stopped me, something in his eyes.

I'd never seen this expression on him before, not even when he was in front of Tyler. His usually warm brown eyes were dark and dead, the look of love and adoration gone beyond recognition. I wasn't use to him looking at me like this, maybe I'd been spoiled, but I didn't like this at all. He looked so angry and he was always more than happy to see me, especially after being apart for the day.

I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong but he cut me off, with the coldest words I could ever remember being directed towards me.

"So, were you ever going to tell me or was I just going to come over and find you dead one day?"


	11. Letting Go

**A/N: Mercury Serenity betad this for me, so thank her or you'd be reading a chapter full with errors! Reviews make me write faster(:**

**Brady's POV**

_"Brady, do you really think I'm kidding? You better stop!" she squealed as I tackled her onto her bed, making sure I wasn't putting too much pressure on her that could hurt her. She grabbed one of her pillows and smacked me in the head with it; she'd learned the hard way last night not to hit me with her bare hand._

_"What are you going to do about it, Sophia?" I teased as I kissed from her neck up to her adorably plump lips, which were one of many favorite things about her. I loved everything about her though, everything from her adorable dimples to her sultry dark doe eyes. _

_"Probably nothing," she confessed and I laughed, experiencing a feeling of happiness I hadn't known existed before Sophia. It was hard to think of what my life was like before Sophia, it was so dull in comparison to what it was like now. Sophia was easily the best thing that would ever happen to me. _

**Enough about Sophia! **Paul screamed through his thoughts, sending a series of sexual memories into my mind as some sort of payback. I shuddered, I'd seen more of Rachel Black then I ever wanted to.

**Yeah, I've heard enough about her to last me a lifetime. **Jared agreed and I laughed internally because there was really a moment on patrol that he thought about anything but Kim.

**She's pregnant, I have an excuse. **Jared retorted and I guess that did serve as a valid excuse. Kim had found out she was pregnant last week and although she hadn't announced it yet, there were no secrets with the pack mind. It wasn't planned, Kim barely nineteen and Jared twenty, but Jared was excited. Kim would be a good mom; she was just as maternal and loving as Emily once she opened up.

I wondered if I Sophia and I would ever have kids. Every since Hope was born, I'd loved babies. There was just something so amazing about babies, they were new people, and they didn't even know what the world was. I liked kids too, even those whose main mission in life was to inflicted terror on others, like Claire. Any baby of Sophia's would be adorable; it would probably inherit her big eyes and curly hair.

**Great! Look what you did now**. Paul continued to complain and I thanked god my patrol was over in a half hour.

Patrol went by uneventful like it always did now. Over the last two years, vampire activity was pretty close to nonexistent, but Sam was determined on making us patrol for the rest of forever while nothing ever happened.

**Wow, the first intelligent thing he's thought all night! **Paul added before I growled menacingly at him. He laughed which in his wolf form came out more like a bark.

**Enough. **The deep commanding tone that only Sam could possess rang through my ears. **You three can leave early and Brady, go get Seth from the Cullen's. **Sam said and his dislike towards the Cullen's family was obvious in his words. I guess the Cullen's family was okay, as okay as any overly sweet smelly family of leeches could be. I use to wish they had never came back at all, but without them I wouldn't have phased which lead to imprinting, which ultimately lead to my Sophia. My wishes had changed though, now I wished they would just leave and take the rest of the leeches in this area with them. If there were no vampires around, I could spend more time with my Sophia. That was my last thought before phasing back, pulling up my sweat pants from my ankle quickly.

I had been patrolling the border line of La Push and Forks, so the Cullen mansion wasn't a far walk. I wished I would have remembered to grab my phone and tie it to my leg before patrol, because I was yearning to hear Sophia's sweet melodic voice after hours of not talking to her. She'd told me she was going to turn in her job application and that she'd be home if I wanted to come over, as if I would turn down an opportunity to be with my angel.

I could smell the disgustingly sugar sweet scent of vampires before I even made it onto the property. I pitied Jake for having to be around this stench every day, even though with Nessie, it probably made it more bearable. Seth on the other hand was just a completely different story, why he willingly spent his time at the Cullen mansion remained unknown and odd to me. I rung the doorbell awkwardly, knowing that they'd probably caught onto my scent and realized I was here. Esme opened the door with a warm smile; she was the most tolerable of vampires, and if it wasn't for her unpleasant scent, I could maybe forgot she was a vampire.

"Oh, hello, Brady!" she said cheerfully and moved over in the doorway, "Can I help you with something?" she asked and I shook my head in response.

"I just need to get Seth for patrol," I said while trying to look over Esme and see if I could see him anywhere.

"He's eating, do you want to come in? There is plenty of extra food," she said, her motherly ways pouring out of her.

"No, thanks, I'm kind of tired," I told her politely even though my exhaustion was not the complete truth to why I was in such a rush to get to the other side of Forks.

I'd been staying at Sophia's house pretty much every night since the first night she invited me to stay because, once I fell asleep and woke up next to her one time, I wanted to do it every day. Her parents were a combination of naïve and lazy so they never realized I spent many nights with their daughter. Some nights were heated, filled with long passionate kisses, while others; we just lied together and talked for hours, jumping from one subject to the next.

It was in those conversations where I really started to dislike her parents. They were so coldhearted, as if they were just the shell of a person with no personality or heat. I didn't feel bad for them, but I did feel bad for Sophia. Their absences had affected her life in such a negative way, there was no way I could ever like them. How could they not love their own daughter, especially when their daughter was as amazing as Sophia was? We didn't hide the fact that we were counting down the days for them to leave for Europe again.

Carlisle appeared at the door next to Esme and something about his scent was off. He still had the normal scent of a vampire but as I inhaled deeply, I smelled a familiar scent on him, the scent of Sophia.

"Hello, Brady. How are things with Sophia?" he asked and I was getting more confused by the moment. Out of the all the Cullen's, Carlisle was the one that went out into public the most. He could have simply just been at the same place at the same time as her, but how did he know her name?

"She's good," I said slowly, waiting for someone to explain to me how he knew her.

"I've been trying to get a hold of her because I gave her the wrong date for her next appointment. Could you possible give her the appointment slip when you see her?" he asked and a nervous feeling started to form in the pit of my stomach. Why had she been at the doctor's without telling me anything about it?

"How do you think she's doing?" I asked, trying to act like I knew what he was talking about so maybe he would explain more and I could put the pieces together.

"Well, congestive heart failure is a tricky disease, but her health seems to be very steady at the moment," Carlisle said and I froze; nothing in my body had the ability to function.

I didn't know exactly what congestive meant in the medical practice, but the words heart failure spoke volumes to me. He had to have been wrong; he couldn't have the right Sophia, my Sophia. I'd been with Sophia almost every day for the past month; I would have caught onto something if she was sick. Were her pills really sleeping pills or medication she truly needed? Was that why she had started crying when I told her I'd be always there for her, because she was dying and couldn't promise me forever?

She was dying and the thought of her leaving this world was so sickening. I thought I was going to fall to the ground. This had to be some sick joke, Sophia couldn't die. I couldn't stand to be away from her for a few hours, how could I live if she wasn't part of the world? She was my imprint, picked out by fate to be my soul mate, she couldn't die.

"I...I have to go," I said quickly, completely forgetting the fact that I was supposed to get Seth for patrol. I barely made it into the woods before I stripped down and morphed, unable to control the mixture of emotions swimming around my body.

She'd lied. She had told me more than once that those pills were strictly from anxiety, when they were for something so much bigger. How could I have thought I knew Sophia when I didn't even know about this?

**What's going on? **Collin thought and I hadn't even realized that he had phased. His thoughts were simple thoughts, something about Carmela.

**She's dying. She has a heart problem and she never even fucking told me! **I screamed through my thoughts, her face popping up as I thought about her.

Collin's thoughts flashed to Carmela for a few seconds, wondering what he would do if he was in the situation I was in now. He shuddered at the thought of anything being wrong with his Carmela.

Why was this happening to me?

Was this my karma, for breaking so many girls' hearts in the past that fate was going to rip away the only girl I've ever loved away from me? I couldn't even entertain the thought of losing Sophia and now it was being thrown in my face.

Why hadn't she told me? Why hadn't she warned me before I fell so far in love with her that something was wrong with her?

**Don't blame her. **Collin thought, but who else did I have to blame? I had told Sophia that I was a fucking werewolf and she couldn't find it in herself to tell me that she was sick?

My mind went blank as I ran towards my house, phasing back and dressing quickly. I ran into my house, completely ignoring my parents and sister as I ran up the stairs into my room. I grabbed my laptop off the desk and typed in 'congestive heart failure' into the Google search box. I clicked on the first website I seen and was terrified by what I learned.

_Congestive heart failure (CHF), or heart failure, is a condition in which the heart can't pump enough blood to the body's other organs._

_If the heart becomes so damaged that it can't be repaired, a more drastic approach should be considered. A heart transplant could be an option._

_48% of people listed for a donor heart have been waiting for more than a year, 13% have been waiting for 5 or more years, and 16% died or became too sick for transplant while waiting for a donor heart in 2008._

I couldn't believe as I was reading these facts and statistics that Sophia, whom I had just been with early today, had this disease. I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat before I slammed my laptop shut, probably breaking it in the process. I changed and grabbed my truck keys before I ran out of my house. I needed to talk her.

I pulled up to her house with nothing at all prepared to say. My mind was racing in so many directions that I couldn't entertain a coherent thought for more than a few seconds. Her parents obviously weren't home because both cars were missing from the driveway, so I just walked in. As soon as I walked in, I heard her footsteps travel from the kitchen down to the hallway to where I was standing. She was smiling widely and went to hug me, but she stopped, sensing something was wrong.

"So, were you ever going to tell me or was I just going to come over and find you dead one day?" I snapped at her and her body went stiff while her jaw dropped.

"Brady I...I," she paused, running a trembling hand through her hair, "How do you know?" she whispered in a shaky voice.

"Carlisle Cullen, but I want you to explain it to me," I told her and our eyes connected once before I looked down, it was too painful for me to look at her and know something was wrong with her, that she could very easily be ripped out of my life.

"I have a heart disease, congestive heart failure if you want to get specific," she started. "I've had it my whole life, that's why I moved to Forks so I could start seeing Dr. Cullen," she paused. "I need a heart transplant soon or I'm going to die; there is nothing else that can fix me besides that," she finished and even though I knew any condition with the word 'heart failure' could be fatal, I winced at her words.

"You lied. You've been lying the whole fucking time!" I yelled at her, trying to push away the feelings that made me want to fall to the ground because this hurt more than anything I'd ever felt with the anger I did feel because she had lied. "Your pills that I saw when I first met you; they're not sleeping pills,"

"I didn't know how to tell you! It's not exactly something you say on the first date," she cried. "I was going to tell you, but then I found out about this imprint and how was I supposed to tell you after you said I'm the only one for you, that something is wrong with me?" she finished, crying in earnest now.

"Why would you do this? Why would you let me fall for you knowing this?" I said angrily and through her tear filled almond eyes she stared at me in shock.

"My disease doesn't define me. I thought you were a better person than that," she said sadly, wiping cheeks with the back of her hand.

"I can't be with you anymore," I said so bluntly it surprised me, but not as much as it surprised Sophia. She was looking up at me with a look of absolute horror on her face. More tears slipped from her eyes and she didn't try to wipe these ones away. She just stood there in shock while I contemplated whether or not I was making the right decision.

I couldn't stay in her life and watch her health deteriorate; I could barely stand to be here while I was watching her cry. If I let go of her now, maybe we could both move on. Although I didn't think being with anyone else was in the cards for me, I had to try.

"You don't mean that!" she screamed at me, walking closer to me and even though everything in my body was screaming at me not to, I backed up away from her touch. "How can you do this? You were just here last night; you just told me you loved me! Why are you going to let this change your mind? I'm sorry I didn't tell you, just please don't leave Brady," she begged and I looked away.

"I'm sorry," I said flatly and her heartbroken expression I was sure would haunt me.

"Then leave, go back to your old life with Alex and prettier girls that don't have a worry in their life at all!" she screamed pushing me towards the door.

When the door slammed in my face, reality hit me like a stack of bricks being thrown in my face. It was over; the feeling of ecstasy that Sophia had brought into my life was gone and not coming back. My truck smelled like her, her scent unwantedly lingered in here from yesterday when I picked her up. I wouldn't be picking her up anymore or spending my days and nights at her house. This had to be the best way, letting go of her willingly was better than losing her to death against my own will.

I punched the steering wheel with everything I had with one coherent thought going through my mind.

Where do I go from here?

**Endnote: **A lot of you might think this was very OC for the Brady I've created, but you have to understand this. He loves Sophia and can't imagine watching anything happen to her, he'd rather try to disconnect from his imprint than watch her die. It's selfish, but that's how is thinking. Please review!


	12. Gone

**A/N:** I'm sorry this took longer than usually, but I hope everyone likes it(: I'm leaving next Friday for vacation so I don't know if I will be able to post again until the tenth, but I'll try. I was thinking of doing a bonus chapter from someone different POV or a one shot on Callie and Tyler. If you have any suggestions, tell me! Enjoy(:

**Sophia's POV**

_"It's always hard to lose somebody. It leaves a hole in your heart that never grows back."- Ellen Hopkins_

**December 29th**

Once the door shut behind him, the overwhelming silence consumed me and I was forced to remember what my life had once been like before Brady. I was alone, which felt worse than it ever had, because I was use to being with him. I couldn't even think of his name, it hurt entirely too much. Everything about this situation hurt, a pain so intense that I was sure nothing could ever feel worse. He was gone and it was my fault he wasn't going to come back. I should have known this was too good to be true, why would anyone with the perfection Brady held want anything to do with me? I shouldn't have been so surprised but the words "I can't be with you anymore" left me with a feeling of numbness, unable to fully comprehend what had just happened.

He didn't want me and I promised myself this would be the last man in the rest of my short life to walk out on me because of this disease, I was done. If I was so undesirable because of a disease I never asked for, I would not force myself on anyone else. Being in love would just be one of the many things I wouldn't get to experience in life. I couldn't do this to myself again and honestly, I was sure that no one would ever be able to make me feel the way Brady had, and I wasn't settling for second best. I guess I could thank him for the temporary happiness he had given me, because I was sure I would never feel that way again.

I left a torrent of tears escape my eyes as I made my way into the kitchen, shutting off everything I'd been cooking, eating was just not happening tonight. To be honest, I don't know if I'll ever be able to make anything in this kitchen again, too many memories with Brady. Why couldn't he just have accepted this? why did he have to leave?

_"Why would you do this? Why would you let me fall for you knowing this?"_

Why would he let me fall in love, just to leave? Would he go back to Alex's and the lifestyle he'd once had? I feared he would, he'd move on, he was too perfect to stay alone; I just wasn't perfect for him. The thought of him with Alex or any other girl made me cry harder. I was unattractively blubbering at my kitchen table, trying to catch my breath between sobs. I'd been through break ups before, but none had ever hurt in this bad.

I grabbed my phone from the middle of the kitchen table and dialed Callie's number. I needed her and I prayed that she would come despite our recent fight.

"Hello?" she answered on the third ring, she sounded happier than ever and I knew that meant she must still be seeing Tyler.

"He… he broke up with me," I cried, trying to keep my voice from shaking. There was no need for small talk, both of us hated it.

"He did what!?" she screamed into the phone and I heard the familiar voice of Tyler asking her in the background what had happened.

"He found out about my heart and told me he couldn't be with me anymore," I said and saying it aloud, forced reality to hit me in the face.

"That motherfucker," she mumbled under her breath. "I'll be over in about a half hour. I'm in Port Angeles, but I'm leaving now," she said and I smiled sadly, I was wrong to ever doubt she wouldn't come when I needed her.

"Thank you," I whispered

"No problem and just so you know, I'm in the know now. Vampires, werewolves, and everything. World's pretty crazy, huh?"

~*~

"He'll come back," Callie reassured me as we sat on my couch. The couch Brady and I shared our first kiss on; I cringed, and was half tempted to burn the couch down.

"I don't think so," I said honestly without trying to seem dramatic at all. I wished I would have believed that he would come back, but I'd seen his eyes, they were cold and the adoring look had disappeared beyond recognition.

"He's a guy; he doesn't know how to react to anything that upsets them. He loves you, he'll be begging for forgiveness by New Years," she promised reassuringly, but he was gone and I knew it.

"Why would he do this? I didn't mean for this to happen," I asked, more asking myself than Callie. It was wrong of me to keep secrets, but it was even worse to walk out on me because of something I couldn't control. I accepted that he was a werewolf, but he couldn't accept the fact that our lives wouldn't always be rainbows and sunshine? It made me think Brady wasn't the man I thought he was and that made a thick lump in my throat form in my throat.

"He just needs time to think, it's a lot to take in," Callie said and the tears started in my eyes again. I didn't fight to stop them, Callie and I had seen each other at our worst many times.

"I already miss him," I confessed as I looked at the clock. It had been roughly three hours since our break up and the aching feeling in my chest continued to worsen by the minute.

Brady and I spent almost every spare second of the time we had together.

"He probably misses you too," she replied and I shook my head, my curls that I had done perfectly for Brady, moved with me.

"Callie, he has options. Have you ever seen his ex, Alex? She's like a walking Barbie doll and he knows he can get back with her whenever he wants!" I exclaimed, horrifyingly burying my head in my hands.

"Well, you're his imprint or whatever, are you meant to be?" she asked skeptically, the whole idea of imprinting still very blurry to her. Tyler had explained everything to her, but the wolf concept of thing was still blurry to both of them. I trusted Tyler now, if he had confessed that he was a vampire, maybe his intentions weren't so bad after all.

"Well, dying seems to undo that magic!" I shouted and Callie smacked my arm with a glare.

"You're not fucking dying, quit saying that," Callie demanded and I shrugged with a humorless laugh.

"I might as well be," I murmured, without Brady, the fire in my life would be blown out.

*~*

**January 5th**

I simply wasn't me anymore, I was the shell of a person that I had once been. I was sure I'd never get over this; I'd never be able to become remotely happy ever again. I cursed the day I'd gone to the mall and met Brady because even though he'd made me happier than I'd ever been, I would have rather lived the rest of my life not knowing what that happiness was, than having to live the rest of my life without it.

Whoever said that things get better with time, obviously didn't know what they were talking about. It had been a week, the longest seven days of my life, and I didn't feel any better. I felt worse, each passing day causing a more intense version of the pain I was feeling. I missed everything about him, about us. I missed cooking with him, picking up Hope from elementary school, his kisses, his supernaturally warmth, and I even missed waking up twenty minutes early so that I could drop him off at La Push Tribal School before going to school. I missed the person I'd become while being with him, but that person left with him.

"You can go on break, Sophia," Seth said, breaking me out of my deep thought. I nodded in his direction before grabbing my purse from the backroom and sitting on one of the booths in the dining room. I pulled out my phone and even though I knew I wouldn't have anything new from Brady, I fought back the tears as I looked at the blank screen.

"Are you hungry?" a voice called from the side and I looked up to see Seth's standing on the side of the table.

I shook my head. "No, but thanks for asking," I said softly. I had never had a good appetite, even when I was with Brady, but we were always cooking or going out to eat, so I just made it a habit to eat. It wasn't like that now though and eating was the last thing on my mind.

"But your stomach was growling," he argued kindly and I didn't reply, I just tapped my fingers lightly on the table.

"I'm really not hungry," I replied and he nodded skeptically before sitting across from me.

"You know you have to eat. When my sister and her boyfriend broke up, she wouldn't eat for days. It's not good for you," he explained and I smiled sadly. It was sweet of him to care, but why did he? I was Sophia Lavar, deemed unfit for anyone to care about.

"It's not because of him," I told him and he raised his eyebrow, leaving his face at a funny expression which made me laugh. The sound sounded unfamiliar to my ears.

"Your heart makes you not want to eat?" he said and something in his voice made me smile. He didn't say it sympathetic or with pity, something only Callie had ever been able to do.

"Correction; my medicine does."

"Well, you got to force yourself to eat. You're tiny enough," he said with a chuckle before standing up. "Do you like French fries?" he asked and shrugged, which he took as a yes. He came back five minutes later with a huge plate of fries and I eyed him strangely.

"You don't really think I can eat all of that, right?" I asked as I popped a fry in my mouth.

"That's not that much," he paused, "but we'll share."

"Does he ever think about me?" I whispered desperately and when he shook his head, I couldn't fight back the tears that were forming in my eyes. My vision was blurred as I stared at Seth and then down at the table.

"He's had his thoughts blocked; I'm sure he does think about you. It's a permanent bond between you two; I don't know how he couldn't be."

"Do you have an imprint?" I asked and his big mahogany eyes filled with sadness.

"I wish," he mumbled so softly I barely heard him, "No, but I've seen enough couples to know how it works," he said confidently and I raised my eyebrow at him.

"How does it work then, Seth?" I asked, propping my elbow on the table and resting my head in my hand.

"He loves you, he cannot love you," Seth said but the word 'love' sounded so harsh to my ears. I'd seen Brady before he'd left my house, his eyes were full of such hatred for me I was positive there was no love behind them. I was faulty and the steel cables that brought me and Brady together would not hold.

"You didn't see him when we broke up, he hates me," I explained truthfully. Brady's angry words laced with venom ran through my mind for the 100th time in the last week.

"I don't think anyone could hate you, Sophia," Seth answered with a sweet smile that caused the first smile of the week from me. He placed his large warm hand over mine in a friendly manner and I winced internally. He reminded me so much of Brady, although they were too very different people. Seth and Brady shared their unnatural but comforting warmth and deep brown eyes but Seth just wasn't my Brady.

He wasn't my Brady anymore, he wasn't committed and he was free to be with whoever he chose. I wondered if he wanted to be with anyone else or maybe he'd get back with the 'lovely' Alexandra. He had promised repeatedly that he would never go back to her but then again, he had promised to stay with me forever, so anything was questionable. I knew in my mind Brady was too charming and beautiful to stay single for long. I could only hope that I'd never have to witness him with someone else because the thought seemed unbearable for me to handle.

"Do you want to hang out when you get off?" he asked and I glanced at the time on my phone. It was 5:30 and I was off in a half hour. It seemed impossible to enjoy anything in life when I was so miserable, but I had nothing better to do. My plans for the night were to mope around, cry some more, and then fall asleep. I could use an escape from all the overwhelming loneliness but I doubted I would be much fun.

"What do you want to do?" I asked and he smiled slightly at my response.

"I'm supposed to babysit Claire and Hope, you can come with me," he offered.

I nodded and pushed the plate back towards Seth. "I have to go home and change but I'll come," I answered and stood up from the booth.

"I can pick you up if you want," he asked and I took a receipt out of my purse and scribbled my address and number on the back.

The last half hour of work flew by and I before I knew it I was grabbing my keys and heading out the door. I waved goodbye to Sue and Seth before venturing out into the blizzard night had brought. Although I viewed my Mustang as if it were my baby, I would admit it was not good in winter and I was beyond relieved to pull into my driveway in one piece. I walked into the big empty house which was always so lonely now. I ran upstairs and changed out of my work clothes and into a long sleeved blue shirt with a pair of dark jeans. Seth was in my driveway right after I got home so I put on a pair of my favorite furry boots before running out the door.

"There is so much snow," I said in awe as I got into his warm car.

"I love snow!" a young voice exclaimed from the backseat and I jumped as I realized Seth and I weren't alone. Claire and Hope were both sitting in the backseat, snuggled up in warm coats with matching pink scarves and hats.

"Me too," Hope said happily and I wondered if she remembered me. I'd only met her a few times and usually she was too hyper to even look at me for more than a few seconds. She didn't say anything else to me the rest of the ride to Seth's house so I assumed she'd forgotten who I was, just like her brother.

Claire and Hope were best friends; it was obvious as I watched them run happily around the living room of Seth's house. We'd brought the girls to Seth's house to watch them and I thanked Seth for this because the thought of being in Brady's house with all of our memories was haunting. Claire ran towards the stairs with Hope close behind her, their giggles evident the entire way.

I sat down on the couch next to Seth and it took me a few seconds to notice something terrifying, it was completely silent. I wasn't around children often, but I knew that silence and small children was never a good combination.

"Why are they being so quite?" I asked and Seth looked at me with playfully fear in his coffee colored eyes.

"I'm afraid to know," Seth teased and soon after I heard the familiar laughter of the girls.

"I've always wondered what it would be like to be so carefree like that," I said but then blushed with embarrassment, "Sorry, I know you don't want to listen to me complain," I said and looked down while playing with my hands.

"It's not fair what is happening to you," Seth paused, "He's an idiot for leaving you, you didn't deserve any of this," Seth said and I felt the tears form in my eyes.

"No, it's my fault. I shouldn't be in relationships, it's selfish," I explained to him and it was selfish, but I loved Brady and the selfish part didn't matter.

"So you're going to be lonely for the rest of your life? You're lovable Sophia, if he doesn't see it, someone else will," Seth said optimistically.

I'd never find someone else. I would never in a million years let anyone into my heart as I had freely done with Brady. There wasn't even any room left in my heart for someone else, my whole existents screamed for Brady and only Brady.

I was about to answer him when I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder.

"Don't I look pretty?" Claire asked, I turned around and smiled brightly at her.

Claire had changed into a puffy pink dress that was covered in sparkles. It wasn't her size and looked more like something that would fit Callie's long and lean body.

"Yes," I laughed freely, "You look- like a princess," I replied and she did a spin, letting me see her in all angles.

"I'm Princess Claire, that's what Quily calls me!" Claire said so happily it made my broken heart swell with temporary happiness.

Hope ran down the stairs, her plastic high heels making a loud clacking noise with every step. She held onto the rail of the steps for dear life before jumping onto the safe fluffy carpet. She had on a long puffy blue dress that would be appropriate for prom. Unlike Claire who had on a silver plastic crown, Hope had a wand in her hand that she was waving around wildly.

"Seth, you're invited to the ball! Remember you promised," Hope exclaimed and pulled on his hand, trying to get him to get up off the couch. Once Claire noticed that he wasn't moving at Hope's demanding, she came over and grabbed his other hand.

"Please Seth; Sophia will think you're mean if you don't!" Claire said and turned her pleadingly dark eyes onto me, "Right, Sophia?" she said while pouting.

"Right," I agreed seriously and out of the corner of my eye I saw Seth shake his head teasingly at me.

Seth hesitantly got up and was pushed up the stairs by the adorable duo of Claire and Hope. Claire had instructed me to wait on the couch until they were done with Princess Seth. I could hear them upstairs; Seth would as nicely as possible say no and then they would both scream until he would do whatever they were demanding.

Both the girls came down the stairs loudly, wearing dramatic make up that made them look orange and bright eye shadows. They each stood on one side of me, giggling uncontrollable.

"Presenting, Princess Seth," Hope yelled and clapped her hands. When nothing happened, Claire clapped her hands repeatedly until Seth started walking down the stairs.

I looked over to the stairs and instantly starting laughing, a happy laugh I thought I would never do again. Claire and Hope had gave Seth a makeover, accenting his cheek bones with circles of pink blush, his eyes with blue eye shadow on one eye and green on the other, they applied the brightest red lipstick I'd ever seen onto his lips, and attempted to gel his hair back, but some pieces were still sticking up wildly in the front.

"Well, don't you look beautiful," I said with a smile, he crossed his arms and looked at me expressionless. "Oh come on Seth, you know you want to laugh," I teased and he rolled his eyes before he started to laugh.

"Sophia will want to be your girlfriend because we made you pretty!" Claire exclaimed happily and I laughed awkwardly.

"Why don't you come and see Brady anymore?" Hope asked, tilting her head to the side and I froze.

"I-I don't know. Your brother wanted to make new friends," I said trying to explain the situation in terms a small child would understand.

Her mouth formed an 'o', "He doesn't like you, he calls you mean names. I like you though," she said and I tried to hide the shocked expression off me face but it was impossible. I felt like someone had stabbed me in the chest and I was desperately trying to swallow the lump in my throat.

"Oh," I said weakly, "I like you too, Hope."

The girls ran back upstairs shortly after and I followed Seth into his bathroom to help him take his princess make up off. I pressed a wet rag over his face and brushed the tears off my cheek with the back of my free hand.

"Don't cry," Seth said pleadingly and I bit my lip in an effort to stop the tears.

"I never did anything wrong," I sobbed pathetically, "Why does he hate me?"

"He's afraid to lose you," Seth said. Tyler had told me the same thing, but I didn't believe either of them. If he was afraid to lose me, why would he leave me? The theory made no sense in my eyes. I knew something though; Brady was gone and most likely not going to come back to me. I had to move on or at least pretend to be making some progress in a new direction. I wiped away my tears and vowed not to cry anymore over Brady who obviously wasn't crying over me.

"Thank you," I whispered so softly it was almost inaudible.

"For what?" Seth asked sweetly, his face looking much better without the coats of makeup on .

"For caring,"


	13. Thinking of you

**A/N: I know I told a lot of you that the next chapter was going to be something about Tyler and Callie, but I ended up writing this when I was on vaction so I'll save that bonus for another time. Thank you so much for everyone's reviews, you have no idea how much they mean to me. Mercury Serenity betad this(:**

**Brady's POV**

"I still can't believe you," Carmela said venomously from her seat next to Collin on my couch. Collin flashed me an apologetic look because he knew nothing could stop the rant Carmela was about to start.

Carmela, like everyone else, didn't approve of my sudden abandonment of Sophia. How could my brothers tell me what I should do with Sophia when their imprints were the images of complete happiness and health? No one could even imagine what this was like; it was a disastrous nightmare that I would never wake up from.

"I know, you've told me," I replied with a clenched jaw as I kept my eyes glued to the T.V. I didn't want to talk about _her_; I wanted to ignore anything that had any remote connection to Sophia.

"I just don't get why you're being so cold," Carmela said and although I loved Carmela because Collin did, her desire to put her nose in Sophia's and my business was getting on my last nerve. Actually, Sophia and I didn't share anything anymore, but I wished she'd stay out of my business.

"I don't want to be with her anymore." Lies. There was nothing more that I wanted than to have her again, but I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't watch her die; I wouldn't spend any more time with her just for her to leave.

It had been six days and roughly 144 hours since our blow up and break up. The days without Sophia were close to unbearable, my whole being screamed for her. I feared that this would never go away, that my feelings for her would never die even after she did. Die, she was going to die.

"You're a liar, that girl was the best thing that ever happened to you and you know it," Carmela said loudly and the words stung because they were undeniable the truth.

Upon seeing her for the first time, I thought she was perfect and it only took a few days of being with her to notice that she was beautifully different from any girl I had ever or would ever be with again. Why did she have to be sick, what had I ever done to deserve this cruel fate? Imprinting hadn't been on the top of my 'to do' list but that didn't mean that when I imprinted I wanted her to be fatally ill. I loved her, I loved her more than I ever thought possible, but I couldn't man up enough to support her, and I hated myself for it.

"She was with Seth last night," Collin said coolly but my head whipped around so fast that if I was human I would've whiplash. My hands shook as I remembered the way he looked at her when I introduced them, he was awe struck by her. Were they going to get together, was Seth really planning to pick up the broken pieces of _my_ imprinting?

"How do you know that?" I snapped and Carmela protectively held his hand and glared at me menacingly as if I were going to attack him.

"I had morning patrol with him; they baby sat Claire and your sister," Collin said and from years of friendship, I could tell by his traveling eyes that that was not all he'd seen.

"What else did you see?" I asked desperately, clinging on to any information on what Sophia had been doing. I knew it was irrational, I'd left her, but I still wanted to know.

"I think he likes her," Collin said and I jumped up from the chair and ran to the back door, the tremors in my body not meant to be ignored.

Of course Seth would like her. She was as sweet as sugar and more beautiful than any girl on this reservation. Most importantly, Sophia was broken, and something in his annoying happy-go-lucky personality, had a thing for mending the broken. He would sit with her through doctor's appointments and hold her hand in the waiting room of the hospital- Fantastic, just fucking fantastic!

I barely had my shirt and basketball shorts of before the tremors possessed my entire body and sent me flying on all fours. I was relieved by the peaceful silence because if Seth would have been in wolf form, I don't think I would have been able to fight the urge to kill him.

I ran around for an hour, just letting my mind wander aimless until I felt Embry phase. I phased back because I was defiantly not in the mood to listen to his thoughts about his picture perfect imprint, Melody. After dressing quickly in the woods, I headed out to walk around the town.

It was too cold for most people to be out, but I wasn't ready to go back home yet. I walked into the only convenience store on the rez and heading into the back to grab a soda. I reached to open the cooler door when a familiar spray tanned hand touched mine.

"Hello, Brady," she said as her blue eyes bored into mine. If she were Sophia, the gesture would have sent sparks flying, but she would never be Sophia. No one could ever be Sophia.

"Hi, Alexandra," I replied and tried to force my eyes to travel down her curvy body. Her body use to fascinate me, but now all she was to me was a blurry image of a girl that I truly didn't want.

"I heard you broke up with that bimbo, Sophia," she said and I instantly wanted to defend her, but I didn't.

"Yeah, it wasn't going to work out." That was a lie; everything I've said in the last week had been lies. We could have worked out, should have, but I was too weak to stay with her.

"I could have told you that," she paused and twisted a piece of long blond hair in between her fingers. "So, since you're finally single again, what are you doing tonight?"

I didn't want Alex, but I needed something, someone, to force me to forget about this agonizing life I was living without Sophia. The wild life Alex and I had shared months ago had previously satisfied me. I could go back to that. If Sophia was going to hang out with Seth, I had no commitment to her; I could hang out with Alex.

"Nothing yet, do you want to come over?" I asked and the words pained me as they left my lips. She'd be devastated if she knew I was with Alex, it would completely destroy her. My mind kept replaying the same memory over and over like a broken record.

_"Promise me you don't want her," Sophia begged and I couldn't believe that she could ever think I could ever want someone else. I couldn't even fathom the idea. _

_"I promise, I'm yours."_

"See you at seven?" Alex's undesirable to me sultry voice brought me back down into reality.

"Yep," I said simply and although I tried to feel excited, all I could feel was disappointment that Alex could never be Sophia.

**Sophia's POV**

I placed down the stack of dishes with shaking hands as I desperately tried to regulate my breathing patterns. I felt horrible today, my body aching and my head pounding in ways it hadn't in months. I should have stayed home; I knew that now as it took everything in me to walk from the dining room to the kitchen. I turned around to grab the next set of dishes when I saw Seth walk into the kitchen with the rest of them.

"Thank you," I said gratefully and Seth looked at me skeptically.

"Do you feel okay? I can bring you to see Carlisle if you don't, my mom won't get mad," Seth offered and I sighed at the thought that I must have looked as bad as I felt.

"I'll be okay," I said with a weak smile and went to turn around when I heard the bell from the entrance door which signaled that someone had just walked in. He was such a sweetheart and unbelievable handsome, but he just wasn't Brady.

He grabbed my hand gently, "Are you sure? I don't want anything to happen to you," he said and the words shocked me because in my entire life, the only person that had ever cared enough to say that was Callie.

"I'm sure, I'm a big girl," I said teasingly with a small smile and Seth replied by chuckling.

"Just don't over work yourself," Seth said before I disappeared back into the dining room and the sight before my eyes was horrifying.

Her long blond hair was messily thrown up into a bun and her curls had been completely flattened. His arm possessively hugged her waist while he showed off a new hickey on his neck that was most defiantly not from me. At that very moment I truly wanted to die because my second worst fear next to Brady leaving me was that he would reunite with Alex, and it was being thrown in my face.

He had promised and although he'd broken a lot of his promises, I was still heartbrokenly shocked to see them together. Had Brady forgotten everything that we shared in the months we were together? Had I meant that little to him that he could replace me so quickly?

I grabbed two menus from under the counter and desperately tried to swallow the lump that was forming in my throat. I wasn't going to cry in front of him, he didn't deserve that much from me.

"Hello, booth or table?" I asked as I walked up to the incompatible couple. There was no doubt that Alexandra was prettier than me, but there was no doubt in my mind that she could ever love Brady with the intensity I did.

"Booth."

"Table."

I smirked to myself, "Well?" I asked and my eyes connected with Brady's for a split second.

I remembered that look; I'd remember and cherish it for the rest of my life. That adored, love sick puppy dog look that use to mean so much to me was just torturing me now. It was just the imprint, that's all that was left of us, and soon enough, that connection would be gone too.

"A-a table is fine," he stuttered while his eyes traveled across my face and body. He was looking at me as if he was trying to memorize every one of my features all over again and I had the sudden desire to remind him why we hadn't seen each other in almost a week.

"Alright, then," I said as I led them to a table on the side of the diner. My legs felt like they were filled with water and I was almost out of breathe by the time I set their menus down.

"I'll be right back with your drinks," I said.

"I hate him!" I screamed as soon as I got in the kitchen, not caring that his werewolf hearing probably could hear me.

"Who?" Seth asked dumbly and flashed him a 'who do you think look' before he nodded.

"What happened now?"

"He's out there with that stupid fucking Alex girl," I said as I sat down on the cold floor in the kitchen and pulled my knees up to my chest.

"Am I that bad of a person? My parents hate me, Brady hates me, but at least no one will miss me when I'm gone!" I exclaimed finally releasing the emotions I'd had bottled up for years. I wouldn't be missed and I wouldn't be leaving anything in the world. Sophia Isabelle Lavar would just be a name on a polished stone. For the first time in my life I'd wish my heart would just quit on me like everything else had because this lonely life fate gave me was too much to take anymore.

Seth kneeled down and cupped my face in his warm soft hands, "You're amazing and you're so beautiful, and I would miss you if anything happened to you," he said fiercely and his words caused a torrent of tears to fall down my face. He wiped the tears off with his thumb, something I remembered Brady doing before, but I was sure the only reaction I would get from him now was a smirk.

"No, I'm not. I'm damaged goods and no one would ever want anything..." he cut me off with a kiss. His full lips were as warm as Brady's, the difference was obvious. Brady mouth tasted like oranges while Seth's was fresh and minty. Seth was gentler while Brady's kisses were sometimes sexily rougher. The most noticeable differences I felt was when I kissed Brady, my body was in such a state of euphoria that I didn't think anything could bring me down, but with Seth, that didn't happen.

I didn't feel completely emotionless; I was honored and shocked that anyone could ever be attracted to me when I was so obviously broken. Seth deserved better than me, he was too sweet and happy to be drug down by me. If I would have met him and never Brady, I could love Seth. Seth was everything I needed, but not what I wanted. I kissed him back, trying desperately to feel the butterflies I got with Brady, but kissing someone forced me to remember how much I missed the times of being in love and being loved back.

I pulled away slowly and looked in his sad eyes, "I wish you were mine," he whispered, our faces only a few inches apart. I started thinking about what it would have been like if Seth imprinted on me instead of Brady.

"Me too," but I knew in that instance he wasn't my Brady and no one ever could be. I had an amazing man in front of me that knew about my condition and didn't look at me differently, but I still couldn't let go of Brady. I would never get over this. My remaining existence looked like it was going to be pretty loveless.

"I know you're not ready to move on, but I won't go anywhere. Don't shut me out," he said and I smiled because at seventeen Seth was a better man than many people in their 30's.

"I need something from you," I said boldly as I stood up to get Brady and Malibu Barbie Bitch their drinks.

"Anything, Soph," he said and I winced internally at the shortened version of my name. I couldn't ever hear my name without thinking of _him. _

"A friend," I paused, "I really need a friend."


	14. Watch what you wish for

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! The end of the school year is always really crazy for me, but the next chapters should be coming sooner. Twlightdreamer.22 helped me with this chapter and Mercury  
Serenity betad:) Review please!**

**Sophia's POV**

_Remember when, you were my boat_  
_and I was your sea_  
_together we'd float, so delicately_  
_But that was back when wecould talk about_  
_anything.. - **Fireworks, You Me at Six **_

"This is so pointless," I mumbled as Callie ran around my bedroom to get the appropriate things so she could dress me as her own life sized Barbie doll. It was a Saturday night, which meant little to me, because all the days of the week felt miserably the same. But Callie was determined to drag me out of the house and to some party in Forks. Parties were pointless to me. I don't drink or smoke, and all I wanted to do tonight was try to sleep.

"Shut up, you need to get out and stop moping," she said with her lean body facing the closet. She pulled a pair of dark blue jeans off the hanger and a blue v-neck. I slipped the outfit on, the jeans hung lowly on my waist, the same way all my clothes fit now. I'd lost a remarkable amount of weight lately, thought it wasn't intentionally. I wasn't trying to starve myself or anything dramatic like that, I'd just lost my appetite and didn't have the desire to force myself to keep healthy. It wasn't a lie when I said I couldn't eat or sleep without him.

"Happy?" I questioned with my hands on my hips, but she shook her head.

"Not yet," she said as she pushed me down into the chair by my vanity. She plugged in my hair straightener and I rolled my eyes. I didn't know why she was spending so much time trying to make me look good, the only person I cared how I looked in front of hated me.

After about another half hour of prepping me, we were finally pulling out of my driveway in Callie's car. I looked at myself in the mirror above the passenger seat and smiled sadly at my appearance. I didn't look bad, Callie's amazing makeup skills had me looking better than I had in a long time, but the light in my eyes was gone beyond recognition. I was so obviously empty and heartbroken that I actually cringed at my own reflection. I sighed and closed the mirror back up while wondering in amazement how Seth could be attracted to me in this condition.

I wish I could've hung out with him tonight, but he was on a double patrol he could not get out of. He'd told me last night that Collin had spotted a female vampire and they were now determined to catch it. It was hard to explain what was going on between Seth and I because to be honest, I didn't understand it clearly myself. I was so incredibly grateful to have him as a friend because he was the only person that treated me like a normal person and not damaged goods. I wanted to like him in the way I knew he liked me, but it was_ so_ hard.

The only person I'd loved was Brady and when that ended in disaster, I'd lost so much of myself. I didn't know if I was ready or if I'd ever be ready to try a relationship again with anyone else. I was use to how everything was with Brady; the way he kissed, the way he tasted, how he smelled, and didn't know if I could adjust to someone else. Seth was undeniable a darling in his own ways, but how could I let someone new in when I wasn't ready to let Brady go?

Callie parked the car on a dark street that was dimly lit by an ancient looking light post. She shut and locked the doors as we started to walk up to a small flat where I assumed the party was being thrown. The minute Callie opened the door, the strong smell of cigarettes and weed hit me like a brick.

"Callie," a boy with short blonde hair said as he pulled my cousin into a hug, "Who is this?" he asked and he turned his brown red shot eyes to me.

"I'm Sophia, Callie's my cousin," I said to the lanky boy who nodded before looking at me as if a light bulb had gone off in his head.

"Lavar? You're Brady Brooks' ex-girlfriend, aren't you?" he asked and my eyes widened. They must have known each other and if Brady was here, I would be out that front door so fast this boy would forget I was ever standing in front of him.

"Yeah, I am," I said coolly but my heart was beating aggressively against my chest.

"Did you invite that fucking dick over here, Jason?" Callie yelled with one hand on her hip and the other holding a beer can that she had picked up from the cooler next to where we were standing.

He didn't have to answer her because as soon as I turned my head, I saw him. He was walking down the stairs with Alex in front of him. She was giggling loudly and stumbling while clutching onto one of Brady's hands. He froze when he saw me, our eyes connecting for a split second before I turned around, I couldn't see that meaningless imprint adoration look.

"Sorry," Jason whispered and Callie smacked him in the chest to get him to be quite, he obeyed.

He walked right past me, smelling strongly of liquor and cheap perfume. My heart shattered into so many indistinguishable pieced that I knew I'd never be able to piece them back together. The Brady I loved was gone and replaced with the Brady he'd apparently always been.

There was only so much as one person I could take. I could only have my heart stepped on and my feelings looked past so many times before I exploded, I'd reached my limit.

"What is your problem?" I yelled over the blaring music and he slowly turned around to face me.

In our weeks apart, I'd forgotten the level of perfection Brady held. His eyes were still a deep beautiful brown but they looked as empty as mine, something I knew he'd deny. He was trying to act like he was doing fine without me but he was suffering too. I had to grab onto the small part of him that still cared about me because it was my only chance of at changing his mind.

"What, Sophia?" he said without looking at me. He would look at the floor, the ceiling, or Alex, but his eyes never fell on me.

The anger inside of me seemed to disappear at the sound of his voice. I wanted to be mad, I had every right to. I wanted to scream and curse at all his unfilled promises, but I couldn't.

"Why are you doing this?"

The question haunted me nightly. Why did it have to be like this? There was so much unsaid between us, we slammed doors and said it was over, but never took the time to talk about any of it.

"Don't start this," he said and I shook my head, that wasn't the answer to my question.

"This was your choice, so why?" I paused, "Why did everything you promised me have to change?" I asked, my voice raising an octave. More people started to stare in our directions and it made me uncomfortable to have so many people listening in on this conversation, but I couldn't put it off until we were alone, because that would probably would never happen.

"That was then, this is now," he said shortly and I wanted to shake him. He'd been affectionate and caring before, the Brady in front of me was a foreign stranger.

"Nothing changed at all!" I screamed, my strong hold deteriorating, "Why are you doing this to me?" I sobbed unattractively because when it came to Brady, all my pride got thrown out the window. His eyes flashed sympathy before turning cold again.

"Everything changed!" he yelled, letting his calm demeanor disappear and his hands started shaking, "I wish I never met you, you ruined my life," he mumbled with his words slightly slurred. He walked off with Alex following closely behind him. I might have been seeing things because my vision was so blurred with tears, but she almost looked sorry for me.

The crowd went back to what they were doing. The game of beer pong continued, the music still blared from the stereo, and the joints and bowls were obviously still being passed around because the smell got heavier and heavier.

Brady's cruel words played on repeat in my head but they did do one positive thing, it gave me the closure to give up on any hope of us reuniting. He couldn't love Sophia with the heart disease and I wasn't going to force him to. Fate had made a mistake in trying to pair us up together.

"Do you want a drink?" a girl with crazy curly blonde hair asked. Her green eyes were glossy but she looked at me sympathetically, as if she knew how much pain I was really in.

I wanted to take her up on the offer, I wanted to get so drunk that I wouldn't be able to say Brady's name correctly. I wasn't that irresponsible though, I couldn't put my entire health on the line because of him. I'd promised Seth before I came here I wouldn't do anything stupid and I couldn't afford to lose him as a friend.

"No, thanks," I said politely, declining and she nodded before grabbing a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket.

"My ex and I just broke up," she explained and took a long drag off her smoke. "The pain gets tolerable after awhile," she said and offered me her cigarette but I shook my head.

"I don't even know who he is anymore," I confessed and even though I didn't know this girl's name, I was comfortable talking to her.

"Well, you do now," she said wisely and she was right.

I told her the whole story, lacking the details of imprinting and werewolves, and it felt good to get it all off my chest and see what someone on the outside would say. She winced unintentionally when I told her why we'd broken and apologized for my condition. I shrugged dismissively, nothing matter anymore anyways.

The rest of the conversation was mostly about her life and her ex although I tried to listen as best as I could. I only heard a few snippets of what she was saying. The blasting music and smoke caused my head to feel like it was painfully pounding and I could not concentrate on anything. The girl- whose name I was still oblivious to- went on to a story about a party she had been at in Seattle and how much she missed the city so much. I nodded in agreement, if I was still in Seattle, I would not be in this devastating situation. I could've fallen in love with someone else, I could've been happy.

I started to look around for Callie, my head hurting to the point where I could barely stand up. I couldn't wait to go home and sleep. I found her talking to the same guy that we were talking to earlier. I wondered silently where Tyler was tonight and hoped I could convince her to leave by telling her I'd go pick him up.

After telling the girl, who I learned was named Lily, I would be right back I started walking towards Callie and got a dizzy flash. I quickly reached for something to stable myself out with when I felt someone grab my waist.

"Had a bit to drink, I see," a guy's voice said in my left ear.

I looked over at him, he was average looking, brown messy hair, a lip ring, and hazel colored eyes. He reminded me of a boy I dated in Seattle and I let my mind wonder to how life would have been if we would have stayed together.

"No, I just got dizzy, thanks," I told him, he laughed , probably assuming I was lying, then hesitantly let go and watched me walk away.

I set my hand on the wall and took a deep breath, but it didn't calm me. I wanted Brady, but I knew he didn't care, so I took out my phone with shaking hands and texted Seth.

'Will you come get me?' I texted and my vision was so blurred I couldn't be sure if I spelled anything right at all.

The room was spinning and my ears were ringing as if someone had cranked the music up all the way directly in my ears. My knees started to give out and I tried calling Callie but it only came out in a weak murmur. I pressed my cheek against the wall and closed my eyes trying, to concentrate on standing up right, I took one big breath before I felt myself fall to the ground, my cheek smacking against something as I fell.

Some people said that your life flashed before your eyes in moments like this. This must have been a way for God to show me that my life was incredible dull, because everything just turned black. There wasn't a slide show of memories with Callie and Brady, it was just peacefully black.

**Endnote**: I'm evil, I know. Reviews make me write fastier(:


	15. Regret

**A/N: I want to thank everyone for the amazing reviews that I got on the last chapter. They mean so much to me, thanks everyone! Mercury Serenity betad this :)**

**Brady's POV**

I'd without a doubt ruined everything and anything I'd ever had with Sophia. Her beautiful but devastated face was etched into my mind and it took everything in me to resist the pull that was pushing me back towards her. I couldn't do this anymore; I couldn't keep acting like I hated her when honestly, all I wanted was to be back with her. Fate had given me her for a reason and I did not want to fight it anymore.

"Baby, are you okay?" Alex asked as she tugged on my hand that was intertwined with hers. I'd complete forgot that I was with her and I was too ashamed to look at her. What was I thinking trying to get back together with her? I promised Sophia I'd never get back with Alex. God, I promised her so much.

"I'm fine," I said through gritted teeth although I was the farthest thing from fine.

"_I wish I never met you, you ruined my life."_

The words rang on repeat through my ears and as I remembered everything I said, I felt like I was being stabbed continuously. She didn't ruin my life, she was the best thing in my life and I couldn't be without her any longer. I missed waking up next to her, the way her adorable full lips felt on mine, her smell; without a doubt, I needed her. Her condition terrified me but I would do it took to keep her healthy. I'd go to the other side of the world to get her help if I had to.

"Are you ready to leave?" I asked even though we were already headed in the direction of where my car was parked.

"It's only like, eleven," she whined but I ignored her protest. "Will you at least come over?" she asked but I shook my head, silently objecting the invitation, and unlocked my car door.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked as she roughly opened the door and plopped down on the passenger seat.

"I want to be with her," I mumbled and she looked up at me, with an expression which was a mixture of shock, hurt, and angry.

"With whom?" she asked dumbly but her eyes told me that she knew exactly who I was talking about, she just needed the confirmation.

"Sophia."

"Are you kidding me?" she asked, her big blue eyes widened. "You just told her less than an hour ago that she ruined your life and now you want her back?" she paused, "Unbelievable, fucking unbelievable," she yelled before slamming her purse down on the seat.

"I'm sorry," I said flatly and in a way, I was sorry for her. Alex and I were not meant for each other, something that would have been revealed with or without the presence of Sophia in my life, but deep down, this had become more than just a game for Alex.

She looked at me with angry tears filling her eyes before she shook her head, "No, you're not," she whispered so softly that if I wasn't a wolf, I would have not heard a single word she had said. I drove her back to her house in complete silence and she ran out of the car before it was even fully stopped and into her house.

It was over, the illusion that Alex could ever replace Sophia, and now I had to pick up the broken pieces of everything I shattered. I needed her to forgive me but I'd messed up so much, I didn't even have a clue where I should start repairing. I pulled out my phone and dialed her number, I deleted her number the night we broke up, but it was a pointless move because I memorized her number the first night I met her.

Her phone rang twice before it went to her voicemail and I sadly smiled when the message came on.

"_Hi it's Sophia! Leave me a message and I'll get back to you." _

"_Or, if she's with me, you'll just have to wait," I said before she burst into a happy laughter that made my heart swell. _

"Uh, hey Sophia. It's Brady," I stuttered on my words, "Can you call me back? Please," I said pleadingly before hanging up. She was probably still at the party and unable to hear her phone, I didn't want to think that she might just hate me as much as I deserved.

I parked my car at the beach and stripped out of my shirt, throwing it on the front seat. I walked towards the woods before tying my sweats to my ankle and phasing. The thoughts and voices of my brother's filled my mind within seconds.

**Brady? **Collin questioned as I was unintentionally flashed with an image of Carmela I did not want to see.

**Yep. **I simply answered and shuddered at the sight of seeing the girl I considered as my little sister in that position.

**Dude, sorry. I thought you were going to Jason Benedict's? **Collin asked.

**I was, I broke up with Alex. **I said and images of Sophia in my head. Collin had been my best friend my entire life and even though he couldn't understand what it felt like to be in this disastrous imprint, he was the only person I trusted enough to ask for advice.

**You owe her an apology; a huge one. **Collin said, stating the obvious.

I felt Seth phased and I growled instinctively at him. I knew I shouldn't be mad at him, I'd left Sophia, leaving her open for anyone else, but the thought of anyone else wanting Sophia the way I did infuriated me. Before I could say anything to him, and I had a mindful to say, I was frozen with the most terrifying images.

Seth's mind was crystal clear, like a movie in perfect sequence. I watched on painful as Sophia's unconscious body was carried into an ambulance with a hysterical Callie. I was frozen in my spot, unable to breathe. This couldn't be happening.

**Please, tell me this is a joke, **I begged. I wanted this to be some sick twisted joke that was planned by my brothers to push me back towards Sophia. I couldn't face this; I didn't even get to tell her how sorry I was yet.

**It's not a joke. **Seth said and his mind flashed to a memory of Sophia looking pale and sickly at work.

**Why didn't you do anything? **I screamed at him but the more I thought about it, it wasn't his fault. I should have been there making sure she was okay but I was too busy with Alex. I could never forgive myself for this.

**I was going to the doctor's with her on Monday. **He thought defensively, but I couldn't listen anymore, I needed to see her.

I phased back, throwing on my sweat pants before I ran faster than I knew possible back to my truck. I drove to Forks General Hospital at such a speed I was surprised I didn't get pulled over multiple times.

"I need Sophia Lavar's room," I said to the extremely tired looking receptionist. She had bright red hair that was pulled up into a messy bun on the top of her head. I fought back the growl rising in my throat when she hesitated to answer me.

"And may I ask who you are?" she said with a skeptical look in her eyes that were hidden by glasses.

"My name is Brady, I'm her-," I paused, unsure of what to say, "I'm her boyfriend," I said and sighed internally, I missed being hers.

She rolled her eyes before typing a few things into the computer, "She's on the third floor, room 315."

I rushed to the elevator and took a deep breath as I walked down the hallway. Callie was seating in a chair in the hallway next to Tyler. She turned around and made eye contact with me before jumping out of her seat, despite Tyler's attempt to grab her.

"Get out!" she screamed and tried to push me, "This is your entire fault!" she yelled with big fat tears running down her cheeks. Tyler walked up behind her and protectively held her by the waist.

"How is this my fault?" I asked angrily and Tyler hissed at me for getting an attitude with his 'precious' girlfriend.

"Do you think this stress was good for her heart?" she asked, "You can be with someone who lied about having sex with other guys but you couldn't be with Sophia because she has a health condition? Fuck you, Brady. She deserves so much better!"

She was right, she was so right I didn't even have the right to say anything back. I should have been there for Sophia; I left her when she needed me the most. I didn't deserve her at all, but I selfishly hoped she could forgive me.

"Can I see her?" I said so lowly it came out like a whispered and Callie's eyes widened.

"I'm going to kill him, Tyler," she said and Tyler held her waist tighter, "No, you can't!" she said and stomped her foot.

"Please, just for a couple minutes," I said while staring at the room she was in.

"You've got five minutes, mutt," she said and Tyler laughed walking with her down the hall with his hand on the small of her back.

I took a deep breath before pushing the door open softly. I felt like my knees were going to give out when I looked at her, so fragile and pale. She was on a breathing machine and she was sleeping. I watched the slight rise and fall of her chest and couldn't fight the lump that had started forming in my throat since the moment I walked into her room.

"Oh, god, Soph…" I mumbled and sat down in the chair next to the bed. I took her tiny hand and gently intertwined my fingers with hers. I kissed each of her knuckles softly and then she stirred slightly. She opened her eyes, wincing as she adjusted to the brightness of the lights. She looked around silently before her eyes landing on me and then down at our hands.

"Am I dead?" she asked seriously and her voice cracked slightly.

"No, please don't say stuff like that," I said pleadingly. I couldn't even fathom the idea of her being dead. She would be gone, lost from the world forever. I could never survive it.

"Why are you here?" she paused, "this isn't real," she muttered and I reached out to touch her uninjured cheek.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." It was the only thing I could say.

On my way here, I'd planned an entire speech in my head of what I would say to her. Now that I was in front, staring into her doe eyes filled with tears I cursed. I couldn't entertain a coherent thought. I just knew I selfishly wanted her back.

"This can't be real," she said and shook her head in disbelief, "You hate me," she finished and her own words made a tear fall down her cheek. I winced; I didn't realize how much damage I was responsible for.

"I don't hate you. I could never hate you." It was the truth, I tried to despise her, but all along in the pit of my stomach I was still completely in love with her.

"Why did it have to be like this, we were perfect," she said as a cascade of tears ran down her face.

"We can go back to that," I promised and then wondered if it really could ever be like that again. Could we ever get pass this?

"You promised," she said and her silent tears turned into sobs, "You told me you never loved her and that you didn't care about her. You looked me in the eyes and told me that you would never, ever be with Alex again, why would you do that to me?"

My imprint with Sophia was beyond damaged, but my reuniting with Alex was the major blow of all. She'd been foolishly insecure when it came to Alex for so long and after meaninglessly being with her again, she'd never believe that I truly did not care about her.

"I broke up with her tonight," I said and started playing with her hand, too ashamed to look at her.

"You kissed her and held her," she paused and wiped the tears off her cheek, "You replaced me."

I could never forgive myself for doing this to her. My mind was flooding with a thousand different 'should have's' that would have changed this situation. I was her imprinter and it was my responsible to make sure nobody ever hurt her, but I was the one causing all the pain she was in.

"I love_ you_," I said and exaggerated the word 'you'. Sophia was it for me; love was not love without her.

"Kiss me," she demanded as the most beautiful smile filled her face.

I stood up over her bed and leaned down just as her lips collided with mine. I'd forgotten what it was like to be with Sophia, the level of completeness I felt when I kissed her. The strong smell of overly sweet cotton candy filled my nose and I turned at the sound of Carlisle Cullen clearing his throat.

"I see you're feeling better Miss Lavar," he said and she blushed before nodding, "Do you understand why you fainted?" he asked and my heart started racing.

"No, I don't said," she said softly and I nervously started drawing pictures on her hand with my fingers.

"Your condition makes it harder for your heart to pump enough blood to the rest of your body. Your blood carries oxygen and the lack of oxygen caused you to become light headed," he finished.

"What does that mean for her, though?" I asked. I couldn't have her passing out consistently, he had to find a way to medical help her.

"Well, I'll up her medication to a stronger dose and more strongly start considering a heart transplant," he paused, "You're on the waiting list, correct?" he asked Sophia and she nodded. I tried to keep the fear I was feeling off from projecting on my face, but it was hard. What if she didn't have time to wait for a new heart? A heart transplant was not a simple surgery, it was dangerous, even more so when done by a leech.

"Thank you, Dr. Cullen," Sophia said politely and yawned, her toffee colored eyes heavy with obvious tiredness. Dr. Cullen nodded before leaving the room as quiet as he came in.

"Do you want me to leave?" I asked as she shut her eyes for a few seconds.

"Whatever you want to do," she mumbled sleepily. I pulled the thin white hospital blanket over her.

"I love you," I whispered in her ear and kissed her cheek.

"Love you," she said in a tiny voice before drifting off to her much needed slumber.

I walked out of the room and back towards the sitting area where Callie was now sitting with a girl I knew as Lily Romero. She was from Forks and her parents owned a Mexican restaurant in Port Angeles where she worked at. I almost dated her when I was a freshman and before I was wolf, although that seemed like lifetimes ago. She smelled like flowers with a light scent of vodka lingering onto her, but she looked sober enough to me.

"Is she okay?" Lily asked while tilting her head to the side. I had no idea Lily and Sophia knew each other, but I nodded anyways.

"She's sleeping," I replied and Lily stood up.

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure she was okay," she paused and moved her hair behind her ears, revealing a series of nasty purple and yellow bruises on her neck, "You're very lucky to have her," she said with a soft smile, "Don't let that other man win her over," she said with a wink and I chuckled.

I smelled Seth before I saw him walk up to us. He looked nervous and scared, I glared. Seth was a better man than I was, he was the better choice for Sophia. He'd been there for her when I wasn't and Seth didn't have a long list of regretful flings as I did. He was pure and good, I was fucked.

"Is she going to be ok-," Seth stopped midsentence as Lily looked up at him, their eyes connecting. I'd seen the look he was giving Lily before, it was the same look I remembered Collin giving to Carmela the first day he met her. I'd seen this look many time; _given _the look not too long ago. Seth without a doubt had just imprinted. He was standing frozen in his spot, his eyes not leaving his much desired imprint's for even a split second. I watched on as Seth's whole world shifted to being centered on Lily.

"She's fine," I replied in an attempt to break him out of his newly imprinted daze.

"That's great," he stumbled on the simple sentence and I smiled. I knew that whatever had gone on between Seth and Sophia in the last few weeks was over. There was no way he would fight his imprint, he was already staring at Lily like she was the best thing that ever graced this Earth.

For the first time in weeks, I smiled, feeling like I was finally going somewhere again.


	16. The mess you chose

**A/N: I want to thank everyone for the amazing reviews. They mean so much to me and have made me so much more confident about my writing. Mercury Serenity, who writes some very addicting stories, betad this for me. Hope you like!**

**Sophia's POV **

_I am the mess you chose_  
_The closet you cannot close_  
_The devil in you i suppose_  
_'Cause the wounds never heal_- Everything changes, Staind.

I was released from the hospital on a rare sunny day two days after being admitted. After enough poking and prodding, my blood work confirmed that I was well enough to go back home and wonder when my next hospital stay would be. I was smart enough to read between the lines of what my doctor was saying, my medication wasn't working the way it had been and I was running out of temporary options. The end was closely approaching and I'd never been so terrified of death in my entire life.

"Why do I have to sit in a wheel chair? I'm not crippled," I argued with the snotty blonde nurse that kept stealing glances at Brady as if I hadn't noticed.

"Liability issues," she sighed in an annoyed tone and Brady glared at her while playing with my hand.

My life had changed so much in the past two days that it didn't feel real. I was terrified that this was all a dream and I was going to wake up any second to find that Brady was still with Alex and my life was miserably still going nowhere. Brady wanted to be with me and although I didn't understand it, I wasn't strong enough to deny him. Even though we were reunited, there were still something lacking between us that needed to be repaired, but I didn't want to deal with all this just yet. We were nowhere near being the couple we had once been and to be honest, I didn't know if we would ever be again. There was so much I was expected to forget; his short but real relationship with Alex, the cruelty in the words he said to me, and what he'd said behind my back. I could feel my eyes burn with tears from just thinking about it, we had such a rough road ahead of us.

In all of the craziness, I hadn't been informed of Seth's imprinting until last night. He'd imprinted on Lily, the same girl that I was talking to at the party before I passed out. I was happy for Seth; he deserved an imprint more than anyone. Lily was the luckiest girl in the state of Washington to have Seth because she was going to have a life better than what she could have ever imagined.

The nurse wheeled me over to the passenger side of Brady's car and I stood up and got in his car without saying goodbye or thank you. I heard her saying goodbye to Brady as he walked around to the driver's side of the car. I glared out the window, stupid blonde.

"Ready to go?" he asked and I nodded while desperately reaching for the warmth of his hand. He took my hand happily and kissed the center of it lightly before pulling out of the lot.

"Do you want to come to my house?" he asked while keep his eyes on the road.

"Sure," I said as I leaned my head against the cool window, watching the forest line pass us by.

"Who's on patrol right now?" I asked as I seen a blur of a gray wolf fly past the trees.

Brady looked at me oddly before following my stare, "I think Collin and Embry," he answered.

"Are there are a lot of vampires out there?" I asked. We didn't talk much about his life as a wolf; we tried to act like a normal couple as much as possible. I laughed internally at the thought of us ever actually believing we were just normal teenagers in love.

"Sometimes," he paused, continuing after hearing the accelerations of my heart beats. "You don't have to worry about me, I know what I'm doing out there," he said reassuringly but I wasn't assured.

"I hate that you're wolf," I whispered. The thought of outliving him, took the breath out of my lungs.

"I don't," he said softly, "It gave me you."

Brady's house hadn't changed at all in the weeks he pretended I didn't exist, but standing in his house wasn't as comfortable as it had once been. As I looked around his bedroom, I wondered how many times he'd invited Alex into his bed while I sat at home crying and wishing for a different life. I hadn't brought her up since my first night at the hospital, because the irrational thought that if we didn't talk about it, I could forget it happened all together. I couldn't forgot, every time I looked at him I felt an overload of insecurity flood my body, because I just didn't understand his motives. We were in love, but he left, when I needed him more than anyone.

"Do you love me?" I asked him bluntly and the pain that filled his dark eyes due to my doubt made my stomach twist uncomfortably. I shifted my eyes to the now empty picture frame on his night stand which had not too long ago had a picture of us occupying it.

"Yes, I love you. I never stopped," he replied and his words were dripping in guilt. I wanted to believe him. I desperately wanted to believe that we had shared too much for him to have stopped loving me so suddenly, but nothing was absolute anymore.

"I just don't understand," I exclaimed as I plopped onto his bed in defeat. "I know you're young, this probably isn't what you wanted in a soul mate," I paused, trying to stay strong and keep myself from looking like an emotional disaster in front of him. "I tried so hard to make you happy, Brady, why wasn't it enough to make you stay?"

It was a useless question to ask because I knew there was no way he could answer it. I was looking for magical words that would make all this hurt go away and sadly, those words did not exist.

"I was scared," he replied before sitting down on his bed beside me. He gingerly pushed my face up with his fingers so our eyes were connected, "When I found out you were sick, I didn't how to react," he paused, "I stupidly thought that if I stopped seeing you, I could let go of you on my own terms and it would be easier for both of us," he explained but his words weren't comforting.

During our time together, Brady was the most important person in my life. When I was with him, I didn't care about the abandonment from my coldhearted parents' or my sickness, I just needed him. When we broke up, it was the biggest let down I'd ever felt. Our love, which was strong and beautiful, looked cheap after he so easily left me and reunited with her.

"How do you think I feel?" I paused but cut him off before he could answer, "I'm scared everyday and you're the only person I thought cared and you left."

"You got back with Alex," I said and the words brought back a series of painful memories of seeing them together at Jason's party and at the diner. "Knowing how much it would hurt me."

"I failed as your imprint, Sophia. I'm going to have to live with that forever. I know I let you down," he paused and I was shocked to see the single tear running down his face, "but I didn't mean anything I said, you're the best thing that's ever happened," he finished.

"How I'm I just supposed to forget?" I said, my voice barely above a whisper. This was reality and a few kisses weren't going to erase the fact that he did two cruel things he swore he never would.

"I," he started but paused early in his sentence. His face filled with disappointment when he realized that there wasn't any humanly way for me to just forget the last few weeks, "I don't know."

A pitifully sob escaped my lips as I sat up on his bed. I buried my face into my hands and wished stupidly I could just cry all our problems away. This wasn't how love was supposed to be, we were supposed to be happy.

"Soph, don't cry," he whispered as I felt his warm hand rubbing soothing circles on my back,

"We'll find a way to make it right again, we're meant to be together," he said confidently and I shook my head. Brady without a doubt was the one for me but I wasn't the one for him. I was going to die and he'd move on and find his true soul mate.

"I'm dying," I screamed and the reality of it was more crushing than I thought it would ever be. I'd been sick my whole life, born with a heart that was not intended to work, but knowing that things were going to get worse than they'd ever been, hurt with an intensity that I'd never known.

He froze in his spot, "Don't say that," he paused, "You're going to get a new heart. You're going to be okay," he attempted to be reassuring but it sounded like he was assuring himself more than me.

"And if I don't?"

"You will. I'm not letting you leave me."

"You can't protect me from this, it's out of my control and yours," I explained sadly.

It wasn't fair.

It was _so_ unfair.

Before he could speak again I leaned in to kiss him, the need to feel his lips on mine was becoming too overwhelming. It felt so good to be freely with him. We were close to inseparable while I was in the hospital but it was hard to get anything but a peck kiss from him without a nurse or unwanted visitor walking in on us. I placed my hand on his cheek as our tongues danced together and I breathed in his fresh scent. He lightly pushed me down, our lips not breaking apart once, as he hovered over me.

"I'm so sorry," he said, kissing me between each word.

"Please don't ever leave again," I said, voicing my greatest fear. I was terrified that he would come to the conclusion again that he was better off without me.

"Never again," he vowed and I nodded before pulling him back down to me by the collar of his shirt.

"God, I missed you," he mumbled into my lips as his fingers lazily ran up and down my sides. I'd missed him too, more than he could have ever imagined, but the time we lost was gone. With the unstableness of my health, I didn't have time to lose.

"Me too, no blankets are as warm as you," I teased although it was not a lie; nights had been awfully cold without him.

"I've actually gotten a lot of sleep, you move around too much," he said with a chuckle and I glared rolling away from him.

"I was kidding," he replied and placed his warm lips on my cheek.

"I don't want you to worry about me," I told him seriously, "Whatever happens; happens. Think like my parents," I finished and he stared at me as if I'd just something in another language.

I'd been mad at my parents my entire life but the way they acted in the last week left me feeling completely cold towards them. I wasn't angry anymore, I just felt empty when I thought about them. We didn't have any relationship and we never would, we were just strangers in life. They had no plans of returning home even after being alerted of my hospital stay and I had to accept it and move on.

"Don't worry about you and be like your parents? Baby doll, what drugs did you let Dr. Leech give you?"

I giggled as I rolled closer to him and stared up at the ceiling fan. I didn't want him to notice the silent tears running down my cheeks. I was scared, and all I wanted to do was put my life on pause and stay in this moment forever.

"What are we going to do?" he mumbled as he held onto me with a new vigor. He wanted, as much as I did, for there to be a solution to all of this. I'd tried for years and knew better than anyone that there wasn't one.

There was nothing we could do, except wait around for something that might never come.


	17. Dead Ends

**A/N: I'm a terrible updater, I know. I'm leaving next Friday for South Carolina and I'm going to try my hardest to get two chapters posted, one a bonus from Lily's POV. I want to thank all of my readers and my beta, Mercury Serenity, for sending this back to me so quickly. Check out her stories because they are truly amazing!**

**Brady's POV**

Sophia was sick, sicker than I ever could remember anyone being. I felt like I was being ripped into a million pieces daily because there was nothing I could to do help her. I'd failed her once with Alex, and on the rare days she couldn't help but break down because she was so overwhelmed with the fear of never getting to see her next birthday; I felt like I was failing her all over again. She was the strongest person in my life and despite the circumstances of her illness – that would make any other person a shell of the person they once were – she was still the same girl I fell in love with months ago. It's been five months; five months since she walked into my life and changed my life in the best way possible. She was a part of me now, literally my other half, which was why I was standing outside the Cullen mansion, feeling like someone had spilled bleach up my nostrils.

The door opened before I even knocked and Esme Cullen stood inches away from me. She had a warm smile spread across her snow colored face but confusion clouded her golden eyes. The pack had been civil with the Cullen's since Nessie's birth, Jacob and Seth were actually their friends, but I was like the majority of the pack that ignored them unless it was necessary. I never thought the day would could that I needed to ask a leech for help, but, hey, love made me desperate.

"I need to talk to Carlisle, please," I said and Esme moved over, gesturing me inside the mansion.

"Is Sophia okay?" Esme asked worriedly and I nodded. She had no idea what it was like to really worry about her. I was terrified for her every second of the day.

"She is right now," I paused.

She was fine right now, shopping with Collin's girlfriend, Carmela, in Port Angeles, but that didn't mean she'd be okay tomorrow. Her health was unstable, threatening to take her away from me at any moment, and I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted to be able to talk about the future and know she was going to be in it.

"Hello, Brady. How are you?" Carlisle said as he appeared behind Esme suddenly.

"Just fantastic," I replied sarcastically. How did they think I felt? My imprint, the love of my life, was dying and her doctor, a man whose family I'd risked my life over, was doing nothing to help her. All he gave her was medication, repeated doctor appointments, and a pager that would go off if a heart came for her, but it wasn't enough. I knew the Cullen's' had connections with all kinds of people and if Bella would have ever been in Sophia's situation, she would have had a heart the day she was diagnosed.

"What did you need Brady?" he asked as I followed him into a room that looked like his office. He had paper work everywhere and the walls were covered in books about anatomy.

"You can't let her die," I told him. I wasn't asking him to keep her alive, he had to. I'd lived without her once and I couldn't do it again.

Why was this happening?

"Brady, you have to believe me when I say I'm doing everything I can for Sophia. She's my patient and I care for all my patients," he said in a professional tone that made me growl.

"A patient?" I paused, my hands shaking uncontrollably, "She's a person, a sixteen year old girl! She's afraid of the dark and loves anything purple, she's not just a statistics of someone with a heart problem, she's my girlfriend," I choked on the last part and slumped down in the chair

"Her condition is not something I can just cure," he paused, "I don't have control over the organs for organ donations, if I did, she would have a new heart," he said and although his words seemed sincere, they weren't enough.

"You're telling me there is nothing you can do," I muttered skeptically, "Our pack helped saved your granddaughter's life and you can't save my imprint's life? You're a fucking doctor!" I yelled. How could he be so calm? It was a life dangling through his hands and he was not affected at all.

"I can try to move her up on the organ donation list, but that is all I can do," he said and although it was better than nothing, it wasn't what I wanted to hear.

"There is nothing else you can do?" I asked quietly. "I know you don't really know Sophia, but she deserves it more than anyone. She doesn't even know what it's like to be healthy; it's the only thing she wants."

"I'll do everything I can," he promised and on that note. I was done, wondering when this disgustingly sweet scent would fade.

I got in my car and headed back to my house. Sophia and Carmela had been gone for about three hours, but knowing Sophia, she could shop for double that time. She told me to just go back to her house when I was done doing everything I needed to do, but since Callie and her leech lover were over, I decided it would be best to go back home.

"Brady, Brady!" my little sister screamed as she ran into my arms at full speed. I spun her around and she laughed carelessly as I kissed the top of her head twice. I hadn't spent much time with my sister; I actually hadn't spent much time at home at all. I spent the majority of my time with Sophia, trying to make up for the time we lost and for time we might not get to share. I loved my baby sister to death; Hope and Sophia were my favorite girls in this world.

"Sophia called the house phone," she paused and her eyes widened dramatically. "she said to call her right now!" I pulled my phone out of my pocket, just realizing now that it was dead. My heart pounded rapidly against my ribcage. What if something was wrong and she'd been trying to get a hold of me? A thousand terrifying scenarios flew through my mind as I raced to the phone, dialing her number so fast I was surprised I'd hit all the right buttons.

She answered on the second ring. "Hello?" she said with obvious laughter in her voice. My heart beats began to regulate.

"Hey, Soph, what are you doing?" I asked as she screamed to Carmela something about her insane driving habits. The only word to describe Carmela's driving was insane. With her wild sharp turns and love for speeding, she had Collin fearing for her life any time she had a set of keys in her hand.

"On my way home; did you get all your things done?" she asked sweetly.

"Yeah, I just got home," I said as I flopped down on the couch next to Hope. "Did you want to get lunch when you get back?" I asked, hoping she'd agree. I stayed with her last night, but even being away from her for a few hours made me miss her. We pretty much lived together. I kept my extra boxers and tooth brush at her house while she had her Victoria Secret luggage bag hidden in my closet with her stuff. I couldn't wait for the day for us to have our own place together, more importantly, I couldn't wait for the day we'd be guaranteed a future together.

"Sure, do you want me to get dropped off at your house?" she asked as a loud car horn went off in the background followed by a string of Carmela's cursing.

"If you make it here in one piece," I paused, shaking my head nervously. "Promise me you'll drive next time."

"Definitely," she said with a small laugh. "I need to talk to you about something when I see you," she said seriously and knot developed in my stomach. She was the only girl, would always be the only girl that had that effect on me. What could she have to talk to me about that we couldn't have said last night?

"Okay, I love you," I replied.

"That better be Sophia, nobody else!" Hope screamed before jumping off the couch and into the kitchen giggling the entire time.

"Love you more," she said before hanging up.

Sophia walked through my front door about ten minutes later, carrying so many bags I was surprised her thinning arms were strong enough to hold. I smirked at something pink and lacy that was sticking out of one of her shopping bags.

"That's for my other boyfriend," she said seriously but the beautiful smile that graced her face blew her cover.

"Oh, really?" I questioned as I kissed every part of her face I could reach. She giggled before burying her face adorably into my chest.

"Get a room!" a tiny voice screamed and my eyes widen. How did Hope even know what that meant? She hadn't even turned six yet!

"Who taught you that?" I asked her as she stood in the hallway between the kitchen and living room.

"You! You always say it to Collin when he's kissing Mela," she said with her hands on her hips.

"This is my house, I have a room," I said and stuck my tongue out childishly at her.

She raised her eyebrows before walking up the stairs towards her room. "I'm watching you two!" she yelled and Sophia and I both laughed.

"Are you hungry now?" I asked her and she nodded, I pulled out my keys.

We were driving down the road quietly when she spoke up at a red light.

"I talked to Tyler today," she said while fidgeting with her hair, so I knew she was nervous.

I tightened my hands on the steering wheel angrily. I hated that she had any communication with Tyler, but when we got back together, she told me she was going to be friendly with Tyler, and I couldn't say anything about it. They had formed some odd kind of friendship since he was supposedly 'in love' with Callie.

"About what?" I said and tried to keep the angry out of my voice so I wouldn't upset her.

"He said if I don't get a heart transplant," she paused, "his sister could change me," she said quickly.

"His sister is going to do what!" I screamed and she flinched, but I was too angry to process the fact that I was probably scaring her.

Fury grew in me faster than I knew possible. Who did this leech think he was telling her things like this? Sophia was too pure to ever be a bloodsucking animal. I glanced over at her big almond brown eyes and shook violently at the thought of them being unnatural gold or red. She was the center of my world and Sophia the vampire, wouldn't be my Sophia.

"As a last option," she paused, "You wouldn't support me, would you?" she asked with silent tears running down her cheeks.

"Over my dead body I'm I letting a leech sink his teeth into you," I paused, taking a few deep breaths from keeping myself from phasing in my car.

"More like over my dead body," she muttered, looking out the window.

"Don't stay stuff like that," I told her and now she was crying, the most heart breaking sobs I'd ever heard.

The award for the worst imprint, ever, goes to Brady Brooks.

"I don't know what you want me to do," she whispered, looking back over at me, "Do you not want me around at all?" she asked and the insecurities in her tiny voice caused me to pull the car over in an empty parking lot.

"Are you insane?" I asked her and she glared at me. Smooth thinking, Brady, make her cry and then question her sanity. "Of course, I want you around!" I said and gently pulled on her hand to get her to look at me. She turned to me red eyed, heartbroken, and terrified, the Sophia that she tried to hide but was always there. The Sophia I couldn't fix, despite all my efforts.

"Just forget I brought it up," she said in a defeated tone with a forced smile on her face.

I took in a deep breath, preparing myself for the words I never thought I would say. "If there is absolutely nothing else we can do, we'll talk about changing you," I said through gritted teeth but she smiled through her tears.

"I don't want to fight anymore," she paused and unbuckled her seat belt so she could lean over and kissed my cheek. "Do you remember how happy we were at the beginning of our relationship? We were so carefree and I want that back, Brady."

We still had times like the old ones. We still had our days where we would just be together without thinking about my crazy ex girlfriend, my pack brother, Seth – who was better to her than I could ever be – her cousin that had a vampire boyfriend around her daily, or her medication. The days where she was just Sophia, my girlfriend and the best thing that ever happened to me, were some of my best days.

"We will get there," I promised and prayed we could get keep that promise.

We continued driving, heading towards a Mexican restaurant in Port Angeles she loved. Lily Romero, Seth's fascination and imprint, worked there. Lily and Sophia had become friends since Sophia's left the hospital. From what I gathered through the pack mind, mainly Seth's, and Sophia, Lily Romero had changed volumes since the last time I had an actually conversation with her. She'd always been so open and now, she tried to portray that she was too independent to need anyone, especially Seth. I was still pissed at Seth, but I felt bad for him because although Sophia and I were far from having an easy imprint, us getting together was never a problem at all.

We pulled into the teeming parking lot and went around opening her door. She was holding my hand while she shuffled through her purse with the other. She was obviously looking for something when she stopped suddenly in the middle of walking, looking as if a ghost had just flown in front of her. She was staring at something in her purse before she screamed so loudly it echoed through the parking lot.

"Brady, oh my god!"


End file.
